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"As they adapted to hunting... brain volume [grew] from 650cc to 1,500cc." "As humans moved into permanent settlements and became farmers, their brain size dec

"As they adapted to hunting... brain volume [grew] from 650cc to 1,500cc." "As humans moved into permanent settlements and became farmers, their brain size decreased to its current volume of 1300-1400cc." Its interesting that we today have smaller brains than our prehistoric ancestors. I wonder if we can look through our genetic code and find some remnants of this past, and re-engineer the relevant genes into future generations? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016028960200137X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01602... Given that Asians (1364cc) have a larger brain size than Whites (1347cc) and Blacks (1267cc), did these kind of pre-historic trends also play out differently across different landmasses?

aritmo 6y ago
Do we really currently use our brains as efficiently as possible? The decrease in size could be the outcome of one of the bottlenecks, like the one 200k years ago.
- ArkanExplorer 6y ago
  The problem could be with distribution. In a hunter-gatherer society, all members require this intelligence described in the article. In a hierarchical early agricultural society, only the ruling classes and to an extent middle classes do. Thus you end up with a distribution of intelligence (and brain size) aligned along caste, with a wide range. Who you sample influences your measurements.
  - vkou 6y ago
    Why do you assume that being a subsistence farmer requires less intelligence than being a landlord? Peasants were poor, not stupid. [1] Their landlords may have written about them as if they were, but they were hardly unbiased observers. [1] https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-farmers/ https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
curiousllama 6y ago
Is there a particular reason that you cite a 20-year old, paywalled study that claims black people are genetically stupider than other races here?
- CapitalistCartr 6y ago
  Polynesians have the most average CCs of brain. There's no correlation between this and smart.
nielsbot 6y ago
Might want to check your facts. Especially since you're citing this person: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton
ben_w 6y ago
Another thing to be cautious of is that brain volume is only a proxy for e.g. neuron count, which is itself a proxy for intelligence. Volume may be the only archaeological data available, but whales (8kg) and elephants (5kg) have brains many times larger than ours (~1.3kg), and even adjusting for body mass doesn’t make humans top of the pile — famously, the brain-to-body mass ratio of shrews is higher than humans’.

aritmo 6y ago

Do we really currently use our brains as efficiently as possible? The decrease in size could be the outcome of one of the bottlenecks, like the one 200k years ago.

ArkanExplorer 6y ago
The problem could be with distribution. In a hunter-gatherer society, all members require this intelligence described in the article. In a hierarchical early agricultural society, only the ruling classes and to an extent middle classes do. Thus you end up with a distribution of intelligence (and brain size) aligned along caste, with a wide range. Who you sample influences your measurements.
- vkou 6y ago
  Why do you assume that being a subsistence farmer requires less intelligence than being a landlord? Peasants were poor, not stupid. [1] Their landlords may have written about them as if they were, but they were hardly unbiased observers. [1] https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-farmers/ https://acoup.blog/2020/07/24/collections-bread-how-did-they...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

curiousllama 6y ago

Is there a particular reason that you cite a 20-year old, paywalled study that claims black people are genetically stupider than other races here?

CapitalistCartr 6y ago
Polynesians have the most average CCs of brain. There's no correlation between this and smart.

nielsbot 6y ago

Might want to check your facts. Especially since you're citing this person: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton

ben_w 6y ago

Another thing to be cautious of is that brain volume is only a proxy for e.g. neuron count, which is itself a proxy for intelligence. Volume may be the only archaeological data available, but whales (8kg) and elephants (5kg) have brains many times larger than ours (~1.3kg), and even adjusting for body mass doesn’t make humans top of the pile — famously, the brain-to-body mass ratio of shrews is higher than humans’.