5 ms·

Intelligence may not be adaptive from the gene perspective. One can see a large number of plausible reasons this might be the case by observing human society an

Intelligence may not be adaptive from the gene perspective. One can see a large number of plausible reasons this might be the case by observing human society and humanity as a whole. If it is in fact true, appearances of that trait would likely be rare and short lived across the universe.

Retric 13y ago
Intelegence is clearly adaptive when you consider humans have the widest habitat range of any multicellular organism on the planet. When you consider people where thriving in Alaska at the end of the last ice age the idea that climate change or industrial pollution is going to do us in is overblown. A full scale nuclear exchange may doom modern civilization but modern civilization showed up fairly quickly after modern humans evolved. The only real man made threat would be some sort of perfect disease designed to kill everyone an even a that is likely to fail.
- chc 13y ago
  We clever primates rose to dominance out of the ashes of 75% of the species on the planet. It seems entirely possible that we never would have achieved this sort of reach if not for the K/T event.
  - Retric 13y ago
    65 million years is a long time even on evolutionary terms. Without K/T you would still have the dinosaur to bird transision because it's an useful nich to be able to fly. mammals evolved with dinosaurs and things may have followed a similar path even without K/T. However, Dinosaurs could have easily followed the same path as humans by filling the same ecological notch of squirls, then spider monkeys thus gaining thumbs to efficently climb with increased body weight. After that increased body weight and brain capacity are useful and suddenly your using tools. PS: Birds have limited brains because of weight issues but their neurons are just as evolved and capable as primate neurons.
regal 13y ago
The other great apes are quite intelligent and occupy the top spots in their ecological niches. Bottlenose dolphins pass the mirror test for self-awareness and appear to have individual names [1], and are at the top of their ecological niche. Elephants pass the mirror test and are at the top of their ecological niche. Octopuses are surprisingly intelligent for invertebrates, and are among the top predators in their niches. In the blink of an ecological eye, intelligence has started showing up at the top spots of the food chain across a diversity of different niches. Just because we haven't seen it before (e.g., the top dinosaur intelligence, the genus Troodon, only had a brain-to-body mass ratio comparable to modern birds [2]), doesn't mean it isn't adaptive - only that it took a while to evolve. Life existed for a pretty long time on Earth before it started running around on the land, too. Doesn't mean running around on the land is maladaptive. [1] http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/dolphin-names/ http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/dolphin-names/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon
- SpoonFed 13y ago
  What about a captive isolated environment that "forces" adaptation such as, tool use in birds & other animals. It would suggest cognitive thought or at least, competence is a "mutation" forced upon the life-form by environment(s). Time would only play a miniscule, but essential part in that process until the life-form figured out time doesn't seem to matter too matter.

Retric 13y ago

Intelegence is clearly adaptive when you consider humans have the widest habitat range of any multicellular organism on the planet. When you consider people where thriving in Alaska at the end of the last ice age the idea that climate change or industrial pollution is going to do us in is overblown. A full scale nuclear exchange may doom modern civilization but modern civilization showed up fairly quickly after modern humans evolved. The only real man made threat would be some sort of perfect disease designed to kill everyone an even a that is likely to fail.

chc 13y ago
We clever primates rose to dominance out of the ashes of 75% of the species on the planet. It seems entirely possible that we never would have achieved this sort of reach if not for the K/T event.
- Retric 13y ago
  65 million years is a long time even on evolutionary terms. Without K/T you would still have the dinosaur to bird transision because it's an useful nich to be able to fly. mammals evolved with dinosaurs and things may have followed a similar path even without K/T. However, Dinosaurs could have easily followed the same path as humans by filling the same ecological notch of squirls, then spider monkeys thus gaining thumbs to efficently climb with increased body weight. After that increased body weight and brain capacity are useful and suddenly your using tools. PS: Birds have limited brains because of weight issues but their neurons are just as evolved and capable as primate neurons.

regal 13y ago

The other great apes are quite intelligent and occupy the top spots in their ecological niches. Bottlenose dolphins pass the mirror test for self-awareness and appear to have individual names [1], and are at the top of their ecological niche. Elephants pass the mirror test and are at the top of their ecological niche. Octopuses are surprisingly intelligent for invertebrates, and are among the top predators in their niches. In the blink of an ecological eye, intelligence has started showing up at the top spots of the food chain across a diversity of different niches. Just because we haven't seen it before (e.g., the top dinosaur intelligence, the genus Troodon, only had a brain-to-body mass ratio comparable to modern birds [2]), doesn't mean it isn't adaptive - only that it took a while to evolve. Life existed for a pretty long time on Earth before it started running around on the land, too. Doesn't mean running around on the land is maladaptive. [1] http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/dolphin-names/ http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/dolphin-names/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon

SpoonFed 13y ago
What about a captive isolated environment that "forces" adaptation such as, tool use in birds & other animals. It would suggest cognitive thought or at least, competence is a "mutation" forced upon the life-form by environment(s). Time would only play a miniscule, but essential part in that process until the life-form figured out time doesn't seem to matter too matter.