Boskops laugh at your pea brains!

[Winnow]

Scientists Postulate Extinct Hominid With 150 IQ

Hugh Pickens writes "Neuroscientists Gary Lynch and Richard Granger have an interesting article in Discover Magazine about the Boskops, an extinct hominid that had big eyes, child-like faces, and forebrains roughly 50% larger than modern man indicating they may have had an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens. The combination of a large cranium and immature face would look decidedly unusual to modern eyes, but not entirely unfamiliar. Such faces peer out from the covers of countless science fiction books and are often attached to 'alien abductors' in movies. Naturalist Loren Eiseley wrote: 'Back there in the past, ten thousand years ago. The man of the future, with the big brain, the small teeth. He lived in Africa. His brain was bigger than your brain.' The history of evolutionary studies has been dogged by the almost irresistible idea that evolution leads to greater complexity, to animals that are more advanced than their predecessor, yet the existence of the Boskops argues otherwise — that humans with big brains, and perhaps great intelligence, occupied a substantial piece of southern Africa in the not very distant past, and that they eventually gave way to smaller-brained, possibly less advanced Homo sapiens — that is, ourselves. 'With 30 percent larger brains than ours now, we can readily calculate that a population with a mean brain size of 1,750 cc would be expected to have an average IQ of 149,' write Lynch and Granger. But why did they go extinct? 'Maybe all that thoughtfulness was of no particular survival value in 10,000 BC. Lacking the external hard drive of a literate society, the Boskops were unable to exploit the vast potential locked up in their expanded cortex,' write Lynch and Granger. 'They were born just a few millennia too soon.'"

I knew nothing about this.

[Zaelath]

That's some pretty poor science.

A sperm whale has a brain about 5 times that of a human, so they've IQ's of 500?

[Winnow]

That's some pretty poor science.

A sperm whale has a brain about 5 times that of a human, so they've IQ's of 500?

Depends on your definition of intelligence. Dolphins and Killer Whales are pretty damn smart and have bigger brains than humans.

Obviously you haven't read "Startide Rising" by David Brin or watched Star Trek IV!

[Neroon]

Dolphins were smart enough to leave the Earth before the Vogons destroyed it, too.

[masteen]

Comparing a primate brain to a cetacean brain is apples to oranges. God knows how much of their cortex is filled up with the neural circuitry that enables echolocation, then you have to factor in a completely different language process, pressure regulation mechanisms, ect.

But when you are comparing one monkey brain to another, size becomes a very relevant factor, especially as you move closer and closer on the evolutionary tree.

[Winnow]

Comparing a primate brain to a cetacean brain is apples to oranges. God knows how much of their cortex is filled up with the neural circuitry that enables echolocation, then you have to factor in a completely different language process, pressure regulation mechanisms, ect.

But when you are comparing one monkey brain to another, size becomes a very relevant factor, especially as you move closer and closer on the evolutionary tree.

Great post except for the "God" comment! : )

[Zaelath]

Comparing a primate brain to a cetacean brain is apples to oranges. God knows how much of their cortex is filled up with the neural circuitry that enables echolocation, then you have to factor in a completely different language process, pressure regulation mechanisms, ect.

But when you are comparing one monkey brain to another, size becomes a very relevant factor, especially as you move closer and closer on the evolutionary tree.

Perhaps, it's rather difficult to test. However, it was a lot more elegant an argument than "I've known a lot of big headed retards that were one punch in the face off being the elephant man". Only in the US and science fiction is bigger always better.

[Boogahz]

Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'