Anthropology - Paleo

Hi,

Read about the HF discovery, and one of the major controversies was
how such a small brain size was capable of such high-tech capabilities
comparable only to Homo Sapiens. I was puzzled that I have not seen
mentioned one explanation that seems to me at least plausible.

On the one hand, in the African savannah (and elsewhere) the
ecological pressure to increase brain ability drove our species and our
ancestors toward bigger brains. The usual explanation.

On the other hand, on the Flores island, ecological (and
environmental) pressure drove HF and other species (e.g. Stegodon)
toward smaller sizes.

As I see it, there isn't necessarily a conflict between the two.
In fact, they can probably happen in parallel.

Please forgive the intuitive and unscientific terms I use in the
following, and try to understand the general point, which I believe is
quite valid.

Let us hostinghostinghostingume that "regular" brain mhostinghostinghosting (e.g. that of us and our
ancestors) has a certain "intelligent" (or capability) efficiency per
unit of volume. I guess you could call this unit the
"intelligence-density". This makes sense in the notion that bigger
brains allowed more capabilities.

However, another way to increase capabilities or "intelligence" is to
increase the brain density or the "intelligence-density" thus requiring
less volume for the same capabilities. As the saying goes "humans only
use 10% of their brains" so just increase this to 20% and you can use a
brain half the size.

Perhaps, it is more evolutionarily expensive to do that than to
increase the brain and skull size in the African savannah, but under
the environmental pressure of an island the balance is changed and it
is more efficient to increase the "intelligence-density" than maintain
a large body, head and brain.
Does this make sense to anyone here?
Thanks,
Adi

<> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Read about the HF discovery, and one of the major controversies was
> how such a small brain size was capable of such high-tech capabilities
> comparable only to Homo Sapiens. I was puzzled that I have not seen
> mentioned one explanation that seems to me at least plausible.
>
> On the one hand, in the African savannah (and elsewhere) the
> ecological pressure to increase brain ability drove our species and our
> ancestors toward bigger brains. The usual explanation.
>
> On the other hand, on the Flores island, ecological (and
> environmental) pressure drove HF and other species (e.g. Stegodon)
> toward smaller sizes.
>
> As I see it, there isn't necessarily a conflict between the two.
> In fact, they can probably happen in parallel.
>
> Please forgive the intuitive and unscientific terms I use in the
> following, and try to understand the general point, which I believe is
> quite valid.
>
> Let us hostinghostinghostingume that "regular" brain mhostinghostinghosting (e.g. that of us and our
> ancestors) has a certain "intelligent" (or capability) efficiency per
> unit of volume. I guess you could call this unit the
> "intelligence-density". This makes sense in the notion that bigger
> brains allowed more capabilities.
>
> However, another way to increase capabilities or "intelligence" is to
> increase the brain density or the "intelligence-density" thus requiring
> less volume for the same capabilities. As the saying goes "humans only
> use 10% of their brains" so just increase this to 20% and you can use a
> brain half the size.
>
> Perhaps, it is more evolutionarily expensive to do that than to
> increase the brain and skull size in the African savannah, but under
> the environmental pressure of an island the balance is changed and it
> is more efficient to increase the "intelligence-density" than maintain
> a large body, head and brain.
> Does this make sense to anyone here?
> Thanks,
> Adi
>

Let me agree this way. The simpliest way to get smarter may be to grow a
larger brain. Better wiring would get the same results. Some people seem to
think a gray parrot is about as smart as a chimp with a much smaller brain.
The smaller brain uses less energy and needs fewer resources to provide the
same level of protection. It takes less energy to transport it.

In a location with limited resources you might have intense selection for
intelligence and a smaller brain that was more efficant.

wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Read about the HF discovery, and one of the major controversies was
> how such a small brain size was capable of such high-tech
capabilities
> comparable only to Homo Sapiens. I was puzzled that I have not seen
> mentioned one explanation that seems to me at least plausible.
>
> On the one hand, in the African savannah (and elsewhere) the
> ecological pressure to increase brain ability drove our species and
our
> ancestors toward bigger brains. The usual explanation.
>
> On the other hand, on the Flores island, ecological (and
> environmental) pressure drove HF and other species (e.g. Stegodon)
> toward smaller sizes.
>
> As I see it, there isn't necessarily a conflict between the two.
> In fact, they can probably happen in parallel.
>
> Please forgive the intuitive and unscientific terms I use in the
> following, and try to understand the general point, which I believe
is
> quite valid.
>
> Let us hostinghostinghostingume that "regular" brain mhostinghostinghosting (e.g. that of us and our
> ancestors) has a certain "intelligent" (or capability) efficiency per
> unit of volume. I guess you could call this unit the
> "intelligence-density". This makes sense in the notion that bigger
> brains allowed more capabilities.
>
> However, another way to increase capabilities or "intelligence" is to
> increase the brain density or the "intelligence-density" thus
requiring
> less volume for the same capabilities. As the saying goes "humans
only
> use 10% of their brains" so just increase this to 20% and you can use
a
> brain half the size.
>
> Perhaps, it is more evolutionarily expensive to do that than to
> increase the brain and skull size in the African savannah, but under
> the environmental pressure of an island the balance is changed and it
> is more efficient to increase the "intelligence-density" than
maintain
> a large body, head and brain.
> Does this make sense to anyone here?
> Thanks,
> Adi

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Precisely! My intention exactly.
Adi