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> Human cognition was basically bruteforced by evolution This is an assumption, not a fact. Perhaps human cognition was created by God, and our minds have an e
by theodorejb 1y ago
> Human cognition was basically bruteforced by evolution
This is an assumption, not a fact. Perhaps human cognition was created by God, and our minds have an essential spiritual component which cannot be reproduced by a purely physical machine.
- potsandpans 1y agoMaybe there's a small teapot orbiting the earth, with ten thousand angels dancing on the tip of the spout.
- andy99 1y agoI think you’re both saying the same thing
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- pennomi 1y agoIt’s not an assumption, it’s a viable theory based on overwhelming evidence from fossil records. What’s NOT supported by evidence is an unknowable, untestable spiritual requirement for cognition.
- j2kun 1y agoWhat overwhelming evidence do fossil records provide about human cognition?
- mediaman 1y agoWe don't need fossil records. We have a clear chain of evolved brain structures in today's living mammals. You'd have to invent some fantastical tale of how God is trying to trick us by putting such clearly connected brain structures in a series of animals that DNA provides clear links for an evolutionary path. I'm sympathetic to the idea that God started the whole shebang (that is, the universe), because it's rather difficult to disprove, but looking at the biological weight of evidence that brain structures evolved over many different species and arguing that something magical happened with homo sapiens specifically is not an easy argument to make for someone with any faith in reason.
- znort_ 1y ago>clear links for an evolutionary path there are clear links for at least 2 evolutionary paths: bird brain architecture is very different from that of mammals and some are among the smartest species on the planet. they have sophisticated language and social relationships, they can deceive (meaning they can put themselves inside another's mind and act accordingly), they solve problems and they invent and engineer tools for specific purposes and use them to that effect. give them time and these bitches might even become our new overlords (if we're still around, that is).
- lurk2 1y ago> it’s a viable theory based on overwhelming evidence from fossil records No one has gathered evidence of cognition from fossil records.
- pennomi 1y agoSure they have. We see every level of cognition in animals today, and the fossil record proves that they all came from the same evolutionary tree. For every species that can claim cognition (there’s lots of them), you can trace it back to predecessors which were increasingly simple. Obviously cognition isn’t a binary thing, it’s a huge gradient, and the tree of life shows that gradient in full.
- j2kun 1y agoEven if you don't believe in God, scientific theories of how human cognition came about (and how it works and changes over time) are all largely speculation and good storytelling.
- soiltype 1y agoIt is completely unreasonable to assume our intelligence was not evolved, even if we acknowledge that an untestable magical process could be responsible. If the latter is true, it's not something we could ever actually know.
- IncreasePosts 1y agoIn that sense, what isn't an assumption?
- znort_ 1y agoit is an assumption backed by considerable evidence. creationism otoh is an assumption backed by superstition an phantasizing, or could you point to at least some evidence. besides, spirituality is not a "component", it's a property emergent from brain structure and function, which is basically purely a physical machine.
- myrmidon 1y agoI'm sticking to materialism, because historically all its predictions turned out to be correct (cognition happens in the brain, thought manifests physically in neural activity, affecting our physical brain affects our thinking). The counter-hypothesis (we think because some kind of magic happens) has absolutely nothing to show for; proponents typically struggle to even define the terms they need, much less make falsifiable predictions.