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This brings up for me an interesting question. Does the rise of intelligence in one creature put an evolutionary pressure towards it in other species, and how r
by donatj 3y ago
This brings up for me an interesting question. Does the rise of intelligence in one creature put an evolutionary pressure towards it in other species, and how rapidly can that manifest. We’ve certainly bred dogs for intelligence, border collies are genuinely amazing creatures and that developed in a somewhat human time scale.
- DarknessFalls 3y agoIt would certainly exert an "adapt or die" pressure on that species' prey and their competition in the food chain. Although, nature seldom selects for intelligence.
- mannykannot 3y agoWe are demonstrating now that, in addition to these issues, a great many species are incurring collateral damage, up to and including extinction, from the indirect environmental consequences of our evolutionary fitness. While, in general, it seems that nature seldom selects for intelligence, over the last ~5 million years there was an evolutionary radiation of hominins, now collapsed down to just our own species. While the causes of this history are not clear, it seems plausible that cognitive developments played a role.