Question about evolution

[moonbogg]

I've learned that over the years, early human's brains grew in size due to their eating of meat. How can an effect like that get passed on in the genes?
If you eat meat and your body and brain grow larger from the nutrition in the meat, that makes sense. What I don't get is how your bigger brain gets passed on to your kids. It sounds ridiculous but i'm sure they got it all figured out, so that's why I am asking.

 

[alzan]

I've learned that over the years, early human's brains grew in size due to their eating of meat. How can an effect like that get passed on in the genes?
If you eat meat and your body and brain grow larger from the nutrition in the meat, that makes sense. What I don't get is how your bigger brain gets passed on to your kids. It sounds ridiculous but i'm sure they got it all figured out, so that's why I am asking.

I'm far from being able to answer with any kind of authority but once the brain was bigger then that would be passed down through the genes. Plus I don't think it's meat per se but any source of protein.

 

[moonbogg]

I'm far from being able to answer with any kind of authority but once the brain was bigger then that would be passed down through the genes. Plus I don't think it's meat per se but any source of protein.

Sure, but how can eating protein change your DNA structure in a favorable way such as making your brain big and powerful? I eat lots of protein and I feel stupid most of the time.
If eating protein made people's brains bigger, then American's brains should be the size of basketballs by now.

 

[IronWing]

Going with the idea that somehow meat eating led to larger brains...

Starting condition: Brain sizes are somewhat variable.

People learn to hunt and eat meat.

Something about having a larger brain provides an advantage in hunting and therefore a survival advantage over not having a larger brain.

The gene for larger brains therefore has a higher likelihood of breeding success than the gene for smaller brains.

The percentage of larger brained people increase in the population and the population mean brain size increases.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I've learned that over the years, early human's brains grew in size due to their eating of meat. How can an effect like that get passed on in the genes?
If you eat meat and your body and brain grow larger from the nutrition in the meat, that makes sense. What I don't get is how your bigger brain gets passed on to your kids. It sounds ridiculous but i'm sure they got it all figured out, so that's why I am asking.

Those whose genetic make-up took the increase in dietary meat and turned it into larger brains earned themselves a reproductive advantage over their peers whose genetic make-up could not take advantage of the dietary meat in the same way.

 

[IronWing]

Those whose genetic make-up took the increase in dietary meat and turned it into larger brains earned themselves a reproductive advantage over their peers whose genetic make-up could not take advantage of the dietary meat in the same way.

You're skating into Lamarkian territory with your phrasing.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Sure, but how can eating protein change your DNA structure in a favorable way such as making your brain big and powerful? I eat lots of protein and I feel stupid most of the time.
If eating protein made people's brains bigger, then American's brains should be the size of basketballs by now.

Eating the meat did not change the DNA. The DNA happened to feature a natural variation that could leverage the change in diet toward a reproductive advantage. Thus, this natural variation was reproduced more frequently than other variations.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

You're skating into Lamarkian territory with your phrasing.

Yeah, I read your post after I wrote mine, and you explained it a little more thoroughly.

 

[AViking]

Sure, but how can eating protein change your DNA structure in a favorable way such as making your brain big and powerful? I eat lots of protein and I feel stupid most of the time.
If eating protein made people's brains bigger, then American's brains should be the size of basketballs by now.

Do you think early hominids used their brains more than we did today? How often are you making life and death decisions? How often are you having to find a food source or risk starvation?

 

[AViking]

Our brains are decreasing in size today. Food for thought. Pun intended.

 

[IronWing]

Our brains are decreasing in size today. Food for thought. Pun intended.

I blame high fructose television.

Is there an advantage to smaller brain size?

 

[moonbogg]

I blame high fructose television.

Is there an advantage to smaller brain size?

Some chick on a video said that our brains are shrinking because they are getting Moore efficient. Get it?

 

[Paul98]

Brain size is not the only variable in intelligence.

 

[IronWing]

Brain size is not the only variable in intelligence.

This is why I was careful not to use the term intelligence in my responses to this thread. An evolutionary advantage to large brain size might have nothing to do with intelligence. Intelligence is a very subjective term anyway.

 

[AViking]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalization_quotient

That might be interesting in here. So would some videos. The one about Orcas that came out recently plus there is some good stuff online about dolphin, and other "high intelligence" and "big brained" animals.

Then you could look at shows about Crows. I don't think they have big brains but they're very intelligent and have the biggest brains of the birds. It seems to have a lot to do with "culture" and food.

 

[moonbogg]

Interesting stuff. However, I'd like at least one pat on the back for my very funny and not easily overlooked "Moore" efficient brain shrinkage joke. No one can give me that much?

 

[IronWing]

Interesting stuff. However, I'd like at least one pat on the back for my very funny and not easily overlooked "Moore" efficient brain shrinkage joke. No one can give me that much?

I liked it.

It got me thinking. We need a new Godwin/Moore Law that states that every eighteen months the mean number of posts between nazi comparisons will be halfed.

 

[mammador]

Mutations, diet and a snowball effect.

 

[mammador]

And eating meat per se cannot lead to this, as lions and tigers would be tops. It's a combination of conditions that led to this.

 

[mammador]

Do you think early hominids used their brains more than we did today? How often are you making life and death decisions? How often are you having to find a food source or risk starvation?

Depends how one defines use their brain.

I would say our society in 2013 is more complex than that of our own species 20,000 years ago.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

This is why I was careful not to use the term intelligence in my responses to this thread. An evolutionary advantage to large brain size might have nothing to do with intelligence. Intelligence is a very subjective term anyway.

I prefer IQ, which is objective.

 

[richaron]

I prefer IQ, which is objective.

Psychologists would argue there are many types of intelligence. An IQ is based on an arbitrary weighting from these different types. Subjective.

 

[moonbogg]

Could something be subjectively objective? Or would it be declared BS at that point...

 

[richaron]

Could something be subjectively objective? Or would it be declared BS at that point...

Many things are quantitative, which nubs might consider objective.

Edit: Technically I guess could be a considered objective, but of a subjective subset of the big picture.

Edit 2: Even I think this is pseudo intellectual BS. But I can't let IQ = objective stand.

 

[mammador]

I prefer IQ, which is objective.

IQ has been discredited for many years. Most recent conclusions lend to intelligence being fluid.