Natural selection proposes that drastic changes in environment determines selection of best adapted. Our intellectual environment has dramatically changed from just the hunter activity passing by agricultural revolution, industrial revolution and now digital revolution.
How could the brain of our ancestors be previously prepared for these dramatically even increasing intellectual demands without evolving ?
Hi Marcos,
Coolidge and Wynn (2005) have argued a similar question. Here is a part of their abstract: " … We propose that a genetic mutation affected neural networks in the prefrontal cortex approximately 60,000 to 130,000 years ago. Our review of cognitive and archaeological evidence yields two possibilities: either it was non-domain specific, affecting general working memory capacity and its executive functions, or the mutation was domain-specific, affecting phonological storage capacity. We discuss the sequelae of these possibilities for modernity, including language enhancement, greater reasoning, planning, and modelling abilities, and increases in fluid/general intelligence." Yet, I think this question can be discussed from other aspects. I hope the article helps to extend the discussion.
Article Working Memory, Its Executive Functions, and the Emergence o...
Best.
Hi Majid,
Thank you for this intresting reference! If that happen we are certainly a result of a selection event at that time. We are probably being submissed at a selection process also now due to digital revolution. One difficulty in answer this question is which kind of parametets could be choosen to track it then and now?
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