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The brains of corvids are not closely related to mammalian brains. All the mammals have roughly the same brain, but corvids have a different architecture.[1] I
by Animats 4mo ago
The brains of corvids are not closely related to mammalian brains. All the mammals have roughly the same brain, but corvids have a different architecture.[1]
Intelligence seems to have evolved three times on this planet - mammals, corvids, and octopuses. Octopuses have a distributed system rather than one central brain.
They all have neurons, but the higher level architecture differs drastically.
Knowing that several different architectures can work is important for AI.
There's apparently more than one way to do it.
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352154616302303 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S23521...
- bmurphy1976 4mo agoWhere do parrots fall in this grouping? They're not corvids. There must have been a pre-corvid ancestor.
- speed_spread 4mo agoParrots aren't evil, they're just assholes.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- srean 4mo agoOctopuses are probably more alien than others.
- Animats 4mo agoMy point here is that if intelligence developed more than once, it didn't come from some one-time random event or divine intervention. It looks like once there are connected neurons, it evolves via continuous improvement. In some environments, that evolution hits limits. Flying birds are limited in brain mass or they can't get airborne. Which may be why corvids don't rule the world.
- srean 4mo agoOh yes absolutely. Intelligence certainly developed more than once. Bird brain is no slur. Before your comment I would have said it emerged twice, but then I had not considered octopuses, they are wicked smart and so unlike other intelligent animals we know.
- forlorn_mammoth 4mo agoI appreciate the linked article. I wonder if the the list should be expanded to 'at least three times', and I start to think about intelligence in plants. See also recent work on honeybees, popularized here https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bumblebees-can-solve-problems-on-the-fly-adding-to-the-insects-list-of-impressive-cognitive-abilities-180988925/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bumblebees-can-sol... honeybees are not social insects, but maybe social insects should be added to the list? Social insects. The original object oriented programming paradigm.