Intelligence Evolved From...

[Thrand]

Meat

Personally I think it was the meat, our brains require large ammounts of protein and it was when we first started eating lots of meat that our brains began to develop higher reasoning faculties. I think harris had the right idea.

[Stumblebum]

A genetic mutation, survival of the fittest and pure chance

[ydoaPs]

how does eating meat make you develop higher reasoning faculties.

[dagaz]

Meat

Personally I think it was the meat' date=' our brains require large ammounts of protein and it was when we first started eating lots of meat that our brains began to develop higher reasoning faculties. I think harris had the right idea.[/quote']

 

Maggots also eat meat.

 

There's a good theory out there (I forget who off the top of my head) that suggests when we began walking upright, leaving our 'arms' free, that we started to develop higher reasoning abilities.

[Thrand]

The brain requires huge ammounts of protein to develope, chimps eat vegetation for the most part but when they do get meat occasionaly they go into super selfish mode and become very hostile. I think we need to start feeding chimps more meat, then you will see... In about a million years or so.

[ydoaPs]

so, the children of vegitarians will be morons?

[LucidDreamer]

Maybe you are kidding, but I think you are about one-half right in a roundabout way. Man probably started evolving from a chimp-like ancestor about 5 million years ago (more or less). At some point our ancestors were separated from the other chimp-like creatures and the selective pressures changed.

 

The chimp's ancestors lived the good life, swinging through trees with an abundance of vegetation to dine on. Our ancestors were not so lucky. Our trees, and the vegetation that came with it, started to disappear. Our ancestors were forced to adapt or perish.

 

They inherited two abilities from their chimp-like ancestors. First, they were able to climb trees and escape predators. Second, they had highly developed brains with strong visual mechanisms. Since the trees were disappearing they were forced to rely more on their advanced brains. Natural selection chose to keep the smart ones alive.

 

Meat eating comes into the picture when you think about our ancestors’ ability to keep himself nourished. The disappearing forest no longer supplied the bounty it once had so our ancestors were forced to rely on other methods. We observe chimps today that go out on hunting parties. It’s likely that our ancestors already had some primitive ability to hunt. These hunting parties became even more important to our ancestors’ existence. Since our ancestors had little specialized abilities as predators they relied upon group coordination, strategy, and tool-making to get the nourishment they needed. The individuals whose brains were more adapted for this survived.

 

The actual act of eating meat did nothing for the development of intelligence, but the pressures of natural selection involved in obtaining the meat did. Chimpanzees already eat meat and they have not developed human intelligence. Every predator on the planet eats meat and they have not developed human intelligence either. The reason why it developed in man and not the rest of the animal kingdom is because the pressures of natural selection are more likely to result in useful adaptations if those adaptations are built on the organisms current abilities. Cats get progressively faster and stronger, canines develop a better sense of smell, and the genus Homo becomes smarter.

[john5746]

Meat

Personally I think it was the meat' date=' our brains require large ammounts of protein and it was when we first started eating lots of meat that our brains began to develop higher reasoning faculties. I think harris had the right idea.[/quote']

 

Predators, even scavengers are generally more intelligent than prey. There is a theory that dogs developed smaller brains than wolves to cope with low protein, but they also didn't need to hunt as much either.

 

So hunting made us smarter, but I don't know how we got to this point

 

"higher reasoning" whatever that is seems to be very rare, so I go with luck.

[YT2095]

perhaps you could/should include Fish, it`s known to help with "brain power" more so than "meat" and dolphins are pretty smart.

 

and yes before anyone pipes up and says fish is meat, I know, but it`s a more specific catagory.

[Sorcerer]

perhaps you could/should include Fish' date=' it`s known to help with "brain power" more so than "meat" and dolphins are pretty smart.

 

and yes before anyone pipes up and says fish is meat, I know, but it`s a more specific catagory.[/quote']

 

Are you referring to omega 3/6 ratios of fatty acids in our neurons cell membranes allowing for more fluidity and hence better activity of transmembrane proteins?

[Pseudoswallo]

hey Thrand,

Is Bush vegetarian? Sadam Housain? Hitler?

Chimps get selfish and violent when the turn carnovor, so why don't humans? They do. we are a violent and selfish race.

 

And thank you, LucidDreamer. Your theory make a lot of sense. Our HUNTING history, not eating, gave us special creativity to outwit prey. Now, we dont need that stuff, so we get creativity from games like Myst. Pathetic.

[YT2095]

Intelligence Evolved From...

 

Necessity.

 

would be the concise answer.