We are definitely down this road …
Unfortunately a bigger brain does not necessarily translate into increased intelligence. There is a slight correlation but to even get there scientists had to alter the way they measure the brain. Elephants and blue whales have brains larger than ours, why aren’t they smarter. A rat has the same brain mass to body ratio, why aren’t they as smart as us? I have not read the article and will do that now. (Oh! I don’t recall how scientists weigh the human brain. It’s a mathematical thing that causes it to work out larger than a rat’s, blue whale’s or an elephant’s. Even then, the actual difference is there but not significant. Also the hormone responsible for brain growth H??? something… is also responsible for overall body size (I believe I read that someplace.)
Okay, let’s read the article and see if there is hope for Cog…
Good try… Cog is not only fully developed but is not expected to last in this world another 20 years. No hope for Cog at all. Not even for Cog’s offspring as Cog has elected not to have any offspring and remains single and unattached (due to a fantasy long distance relationship ). The current study on Evolutionary developmental biology ( Evo Devo ) is concerned with how changes in embryonic development during single generations relate to the evolutionary changes that occur between generations. That, quite simply, knocks me out of the equation. I am going back to smoking banana peels.
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Indeed.
How we measure intelligence had to be rethought when it was realised that some birds, with their tiny brains are actually very smart. EG Ravens have been observed making a tool to make a tool.
I once saw a Piping Shrike with a broken beak using a twig to dig for insects.
It is also my understanding that the way the intelligence of children is measured has also changed in some places.IE Instead of asking “How smart is this child?” They now ask “HOW is this child smart”
My grandfather used to say “Remember that almost every person you meet will be able to do at least one thing better than you”
Don’t remember where I read /heard this, so it might be wrong. That Homo Neanderthalensus had a brain pan of about 1700 cc. That Homo Sapiens Sapiens has brain pan of 1400 CC. Yet aren’t we supposed to be smarter?
Dolphins less intelligent? Well, they have no need for clothing or artifacts . Yet they are also mammals and began evolving into their present state around 50 million years ago.
Perhaps we make too big a deal of intelligence. Being a successful species infers nothing about innate intelligence as far as I can tell. (at least not in the way we tend to see intelligence)l