(October 20, 2015 at 1:01 am)Aoi Magi Wrote: Brain size isn't the only factor effecting intelligence, and I personally feel, after an optimal threshold, and increased mass would be counter-productive. You see in an infant the brain will develop through synaptogenesis, when the synaptic connection initially form, however recognizable intelligence emerges in the later stages of brain development when synaptinc pruning occurs where useless connections are dropped-off and get rewired to make things more efficient. Genes such as HMGA2 might play an important role here.

Think of it like this, the more data you put in your mobile memory, the slower it gets, because processing the increased data takes longer. When extended to the brain, after a certain limit, I feel the brain would start losing it's efficiency as well.

I assumed that by increasing brain size, without getting in to technicals of what would increase, that processing speed and efficiency would increase along side it. The brain is basically the control system..for..everything. To say that the evolutionary process of the brain would somehow reach a maximum in my opinion is saying that one day we would become the highest tier possible of evolutionary creatures, and I don't really think that's accurate.

I'm not sure, but considering how big a role the brain plays in being an intelligent life form(humans) I don't see it reaching a maximum, this would shread the idea that one day in 2 billion years we will be so far advanced that we will be able to warp around space, or colonize any planet, or even as suggested by many scientists, eliminate decay(death). Intelligence is all that encompasses the brain, not just memory, but everything, creativity, spacial awareness, and processing speed. I think our brain would evolve as a whole, and that everything would progress as one. 

It's interesting though. I think it seems like a bit of a gray area. Maybe one day instead of growing our brain size we will grow an entirely new brain?


The possibilities are endless for how we will continue to evolve. At least in my imagination they are. I like to think of it by looking back on the evolutionary timeline where the earliest life forms were forming, if we take ourselves out of the equation for a second and were watching it happen in front of our eyes, no one would connect the dots and say "This is going to transform in to __ and then __ and finally a human" they would probably have a much different spectrum of what they "thought" was possible, or would happen. Really, we don't know, but whatever it is, we will keep progressing forward. By all means a million years from now whatever "humans" have turned in to it will not be a step backwards in comparison to the present species.

(October 20, 2015 at 1:58 am)heatiosrs Wrote:

(October 20, 2015 at 1:01 am)Aoi Magi Wrote: Brain size isn't the only factor effecting intelligence, and I personally feel, after an optimal threshold, and increased mass would be counter-productive. You see in an infant the brain will develop through synaptogenesis, when the synaptic connection initially form, however recognizable intelligence emerges in the later stages of brain development when synaptinc pruning occurs where useless connections are dropped-off and get rewired to make things more efficient. Genes such as HMGA2 might play an important role here.

Think of it like this, the more data you put in your mobile memory, the slower it gets, because processing the increased data takes longer. When extended to the brain, after a certain limit, I feel the brain would start losing it's efficiency as well.

I assumed that by increasing brain size, without getting in to technicals of what would increase, that processing speed and efficiency would increase along side it. The brain is basically the control system..for..everything. To say that the evolutionary process of the brain would somehow reach a maximum in my opinion is saying that one day we would become the highest tier possible of evolutionary creatures, and I don't really think that's accurate.

I'm not sure, but considering how big a role the brain plays in being an intelligent life form(humans) I don't see it reaching a maximum, this would shread the idea that one day in 2 billion years we will be so far advanced that we will be able to warp around space, or colonize any planet, or even as suggested by many scientists, eliminate decay(death). Intelligence is all that encompasses the brain, not just memory, but everything, creativity, spacial awareness, and processing speed. I think our brain would evolve as a whole, and that everything would progress as one. 

It's interesting though. I think it seems like a bit of a gray area. Maybe one day instead of growing our brain size we will grow an entirely new brain?


The possibilities are endless for how we will continue to evolve. At least in my imagination they are. I like to think of it by looking back on the evolutionary timeline where the earliest life forms were forming, if we take ourselves out of the equation for a second and were watching it happen in front of our eyes, no one would connect the dots and say "This is going to transform in to __ and then __ and finally a human" they would probably have a much different spectrum of what they "thought" was possible, or would happen. Really, we don't know, but whatever it is, we will keep progressing forward. By all means a million years from now whatever "humans" have turned in to it will not be a step backwards in comparison to the present species.

You seem to be misunderstanding something, there is no "highest tier" for evolutionary creatures, at best, we are at the top of the food chain, but there are many other creatures who easily surpass us in other attributes than intelligence. And that we are at the top of the food chain is still a coincidence. Evolution works to adapt by weeding out the inefficient, so if the environment changes enough, we could easily end up at the bottom of that chain and roaches at the top.


Also as others mentioned, a whale has a much larger brain than a human, but is nowhere close to human intellect. So bigger is NOT better.

(October 20, 2015 at 12:30 am)ignoramus Wrote: Given enough time, it may happen if it's beneficial for the survival of the species.
By then, we'd probably all look like aliens anyway....

(October 20, 2015 at 6:05 am)Aoi Magi Wrote:

(October 20, 2015 at 1:58 am)heatiosrs Wrote: I assumed that by increasing brain size, without getting in to technicals of what would increase, that processing speed and efficiency would increase along side it. The brain is basically the control system..for..everything. To say that the evolutionary process of the brain would somehow reach a maximum in my opinion is saying that one day we would become the highest tier possible of evolutionary creatures, and I don't really think that's accurate.

I'm not sure, but considering how big a role the brain plays in being an intelligent life form(humans) I don't see it reaching a maximum, this would shread the idea that one day in 2 billion years we will be so far advanced that we will be able to warp around space, or colonize any planet, or even as suggested by many scientists, eliminate decay(death). Intelligence is all that encompasses the brain, not just memory, but everything, creativity, spacial awareness, and processing speed. I think our brain would evolve as a whole, and that everything would progress as one. 

It's interesting though. I think it seems like a bit of a gray area. Maybe one day instead of growing our brain size we will grow an entirely new brain?


The possibilities are endless for how we will continue to evolve. At least in my imagination they are. I like to think of it by looking back on the evolutionary timeline where the earliest life forms were forming, if we take ourselves out of the equation for a second and were watching it happen in front of our eyes, no one would connect the dots and say "This is going to transform in to __ and then __ and finally a human" they would probably have a much different spectrum of what they "thought" was possible, or would happen. Really, we don't know, but whatever it is, we will keep progressing forward. By all means a million years from now whatever "humans" have turned in to it will not be a step backwards in comparison to the present species.

You seem to be misunderstanding something, there is no "highest tier" for evolutionary creatures, at best, we are at the top of the food chain, but there are many other creatures who easily surpass us in other attributes than intelligence. And that we are at the top of the food chain is still a coincidence. Evolution works to adapt by weeding out the inefficient, so if the environment changes enough, we could easily end up at the bottom of that chain and roaches at the top.


Also as others mentioned, a whale has a much larger brain than a human, but is nowhere close to human intellect. So bigger is NOT better.

Some of the most intelligent, non-human creatures on the planet are birds, yet their brains are tiny.

(October 19, 2015 at 8:18 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Wrinkling of the surface, internal cross connections, synaptic density yada yada yada all contribute to intelligence.

Whales have enormous brains (not in proportion to their bodies however) compared to ours and it hasn't let them build rockets or come up with TV shows like Dancing With the Stars.

Whales 1
Humans 0

(October 19, 2015 at 8:18 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: ...or come up with TV shows like Dancing With the Stars.

Proving they're more intelligent than we are.

Last time we went though rapid brain growth we ended up with artifacts like seizures and déjà vu, so I'd expect to see more tiny electrical storms wreaking havoc.

The brain uses up more energy than any other part of our body, so I think that person would have to eat an uncomfortable amount to stay alive.

Brain size is only correlated to intelligence when comparing different species, even then, as mentioned before, it is not absolute.  Among humans, however, brain size plays no part in intelligence.  In fact, Einstein had a smaller than average brain.