[LINK] On the unlikelihood of intelligent life

NancyLebovitz

"The Planet-of-the-Apes Hypothesis" Revisited --Will Intelligence be a Constant in the Universe?

If intelligence is good for every environment, we would see a trend in the encephalization quotient among all organisms as a function of time. The data does not show that. The evidence on Earth points to exactly the opposite conclusion. Earth had independent experiments in evolution thanks to continental drift. New Zealand, Madagascar, India, South America... half a dozen experiments over 10, 20, 50, even 100 million years of independent evolution did not produce anything that was more human-like than when it started. So it's a silly idea to think that species will evolve toward us.

"The Planet-of-the-Apes Hypothesis" Revisited --Will Intelligence be a Constant in the Universe?

If intelligence is good for every environment, we would see a trend in the encephalization quotient among all organisms as a function of time. The data does not show that. The evidence on Earth points to exactly the opposite conclusion. Earth had independent experiments in evolution thanks to continental drift. New Zealand, Madagascar, India, South America... half a dozen experiments over 10, 20, 50, even 100 million years of independent evolution did not produce anything that was more human-like than when it started. So it's a silly idea to think that species will evolve toward us.

The encephalization quotient that Galaxy cites isn't a direct measure of brain size, it's a ratio of actual brain mass to the value that a mammal is expected to need in order to manage things like breathing and coordinating body movements. Cetaceans and particularly dolphins do have some of the beefiest brains among mammals in terms of EQ, but humans still beat them by a wide margin.

Ants then. They are 6% brain, which easily trumps humans in terms of EQ.

The idea that there's no trend towards bigger brains seems stupid. Almost as stupid as the idea that we should expect of see such a trend in all organisms.

All modern organisms evolved from bacteria-like critters, with little nervous tissue. Of course there's a trend towards bigger brains. The only issue is why - and that seems pretty obvious too: brains pay.

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[LINK] On the unlikelihood of intelligent life

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[LINK] On the unlikelihood of intelligent life

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