...we must be wary of granting too much power to natural selection by
viewing all basic capacities of our brain as direct adaptations. I do not
doubt that natural selection acted in building our oversized brains--and I
am equally confidant that our brains became large as an adaptation for
definite roles (probably a complex set of interacting functions). But these
assumptions do not lead to the notion, often uncritically embraced by strict
Darwinians, that all major capacities of the brain must arise as direct
products of natural selection.
-- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Mismeasure of Man"
viewing all basic capacities of our brain as direct adaptations. I do not
doubt that natural selection acted in building our oversized brains--and I
am equally confidant that our brains became large as an adaptation for
definite roles (probably a complex set of interacting functions). But these
assumptions do not lead to the notion, often uncritically embraced by strict
Darwinians, that all major capacities of the brain must arise as direct
products of natural selection.
-- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Mismeasure of Man"
Related:
- we must be wary of granting too much power to natural selection
by viewing all basic capacities of our brain as direct adaptations.
I do not doubt that natural selection acted in building... - Natural selection won't matter soon, not anywhere as much as conscious
selection.
We will civilize and alter ourselves to suit our ideas... - WAR: Hi-tech natural
selection... - Seat belt laws interfere with natural
selection... - In arguing that current theories of brain function cast suspicion on ESP,
psychokinesis, reincarnation, and so on, I am frequently... - I sat down beside her, said hello, offered to buy her a drink.
and then natural selection reared its ugly head... - I have called this principle, by which each slight variation,
if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection... - The unique operations of the (human) brain are the result of natural selection
operating through the filter of culture.
They have suspended us between the two antipodal ideals... - We delivered our child via natural childbirth, the procedure invented by a
man named Lamaze-
the Marquis de Lamaze, a disciple of Dr. Josef Mengele...
