Flutterby™! : Shrinking brains

Shrinking brains

2011-01-02 18:57:34.21382+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

Over the past 20,000 years, the human brain has shrunk from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350 cc.

[ related topics: History ]

comments in descending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2011-01-03 16:52:45.253022+00 by: Dan Lyke

Dad, I was gonna make that crack, but even Mort Kondracke hasn't been around for enough of that 20,000 years to be statistically significant...

(And, yes, I really did just go looking for the oldest Fox commentator. I feel soooo dirty.)

#Comment Re: made: 2011-01-03 16:08:57.307594+00 by: andylyke

I wonder how much of that shrinkage has occurred since Rupert bought Fox. Just kidding, folks

#Comment Re: made: 2011-01-03 15:53:34.833447+00 by: Larry Burton

2,000 years ago humans probably had to be smarter. As we developed technology to make life simpler we made the requirements for survival less demanding and, as a result, the intelligence level needed to survive was lowered. In fact, I can see where our dependence on society for survival may require us to be dumber.

#Comment Re: made: 2011-01-03 12:37:04.265204+00 by: meuon

As humans have also become much larger, that pure volumetric analysis stands out. I wonder what the "density" relationship would be. A denser cluster of neurons might be more efficient. Of course, my assumption is that we are getting smarter. Laughing.