On Sat, Jun 16, 2012 at 9:36 AM, Balachandran Sivakumar < benignb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Not really. Our brain has been having upgrades, may be every > second, through the process of evolution :) > I understand I'm taking the topic even more farther into the woods. Hence the edit to the subject to mark this OT :) What you say here is partially True and partially Untrue. True : We are being 'selected' continuously. It is not the same old design that was "billions of years ago". Atleast, as recent as 2 million years ago the model changed significantly to introduce the "Neo cortex", which is arguably humanity's boon (and IMHO bane). Given our brain is our main 'niche' tool for survival it is being rigorously tested and selected. So certainly, it is changing. But how much of the observable end results (intelligence, sympathy, cunningness, etc.,) is acquired and how much is naturally endowed is a topic of debate (ex: see the bit about "natural history of Ashkenazi intelligence" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_intelligence ). The "maybe every second" bit is untrue. Evolution does not happen in seconds (unless you are talking about those species whose life times are in the order of milli seconds... or "Hulk" ;) ). Individuals don't evolve, individuals have the choice to adapt to (or perish due to) an ever changing world. Those that remain 'carry forward' the process of evolution by passing on their special traits to their young ones. Also, acquired traits are not be passed on to the offsprings during evolution. The knowledge one learns (which may inturn cause physiological "state" changes in the brain) is not passed on genetically. So if you lost a limb in an accident, thank goodness, atleast your chlidren will have limbs ;) This website helped me learn the basics / validate my understanding of Evolution: http://talkorigins.org/ </off-topic> cheers, -Suraj -- Career Gear - Industry Driven Talent Factory http://careergear.in/ _______________________________________________ ILUGC Mailing List: http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc