Let's Riff on the next Tech/Social Revolution

[SuburbanFarmer]

No. All of us. They possessed more brain matter per pound of body weight than homo sapiens.

Blue whales have massive brains. We should ask them for advice.

[Speaker to Animals]

No. All of us. They possessed more brain matter per pound of body weight than homo sapiens.

Blue whales have massive brains. We should ask them for advice.

Per lbs of bodyweight.. not so much.

They are not even anywhere near the same genus as us either. Neanderthals were similar in lots of ways (even possible to breed with them). The brain-to-body mass ratio probably means a lot more within the homo genus.

[SuburbanFarmer]

No. All of us. They possessed more brain matter per pound of body weight than homo sapiens.

Blue whales have massive brains. We should ask them for advice.

Per lbs of bodyweight.. not so much.

They are not even anywhere near the same genus as us either. Neanderthals were similar in lots of ways (even possible to breed with them). The brain-to-body mass ratio probably means a lot more within the homo genus.

When do you finish your phrenology degree?

[Speaker to Animals]

Phrenology?

[brewster]

The whole brain size thing has never made sense to me. If it were true a Border Collie would have a proportionally larger brain than a dumbass retriever. And it's hard to fathom size having anything to do with it when a tiny terrier can be just as smart as 150 lb dog, proportion or no. How can it scale down indefinitely? Would a worm whose mass is half brain be smarter than a human? Is there any actual proof of this theory in current natural observation of closely related species?

[SuburbanFarmer]

The whole brain size thing has never made sense to me. If it were true a Border Collie would have a proportionally larger brain than a dumbass retriever. And it's hard to fathom size having anything to do with it when a tiny terrier can be just as smart as 150 lb dog, proportion or no. How can it scale down indefinitely? Would a worm whose mass is half brain be smarter than a human? Is there any actual proof of this theory in current natural observation of closely related species?

Brain size appears to have little or nothing to do with intelligence. But it sounds truthy.

[Speaker to Animals]

CPU cycles and RAM capacity seem to have little to do with computing power but it sounds truthy.

[SuburbanFarmer]

CPU cycles and RAM capacity seem to have little to do with computing power but it sounds truthy.

So, if you buy the biggest physical processor you can, your computer will be the fastest, right?

[Ph64]

The whole brain size thing has never made sense to me. If it were true a Border Collie would have a proportionally larger brain than a dumbass retriever. And it's hard to fathom size having anything to do with it when a tiny terrier can be just as smart as 150 lb dog, proportion or no. How can it scale down indefinitely? Would a worm whose mass is half brain be smarter than a human? Is there any actual proof of this theory in current natural observation of closely related species?

Brain size appears to have little or nothing to do with intelligence. But it sounds truthy.

So you're saying size doesn't matter?
I've gotten conflicting stories on that from women...

[Speaker to Animals]

CPU cycles and RAM capacity seem to have little to do with computing power but it sounds truthy.

So, if you buy the biggest physical processor you can, your computer will be the fastest, right?

CPU cycles and RAM are analogous, between brains of hominids, to more neural connections, especially in the neocortex. The more neurons available for cognition, the more intelligence is possible. A lot of neurons are devoted to muscles and other body controls. It may be that their larger brain size corresponded to more neural connections in their muscles, making them even stronger. You can see this happen in chimps, for example. But I doubt it in their case.

I suspect the reason for our success and their doom had more to do with evolutionary behavior.

I think this was so because we were so genetically compatible. They must have had a neocortex just like we do. We were close enough to interbreed. With that kind of similarity, larger brain size, in my opinion, translated to greater potential for intelligence. If they were otherwise so different, then we should see dramatic differences in brains between Eurasians and Africans, for example, since Eurasians have some percentage of alleles inherited from neanderthals. But we don't.