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Dmytry comments on Brain shrinkage in humans over past ~20 000 years - what did we lose? - Less Wrong
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The survivable brain trauma is a product of our adults play-fighting like kittens. Real violence using stones and sticks got larger variance of damage and fewer of the cases would fall into brain-damaged-survivor range.
Picture seriously huge people, built like athletes, fighting not with gloves on their hands but stones in their hands (and stones on sticks). There won't be many knock-outs where the knocked out party ever gets up again.
Why didn't Neanderthals evolve it then? Larger brain volume, but musculature sufficient to make a fist a deadly weapon. They could stave in each other's skulls with a punch.
Evolution doesn't work that way. The fact an option is available doesn't mean they will evolve for it unless there is such strong selection pressure to do so it outweighs other factors.