Comments on: Size doesn't always matter

By: Sandgroper

Sandgroper — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:30:37 +0000

Erm, sorry, not all that anonymous, and his/her blog reading list suggests I should be wary of how accurate the comment might have been, in an area where I have no basis for judging.

By: Sandgroper

Sandgroper — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:14:50 +0000

Someone anonymous posted this informed-sounding (to me, but what do I know?) comment on Dienekes’ blog two years ago, in response to the question “Were Neanderthals more intelligent than us?”:

“NO because their neo cortex was not as dense, not as complex; they had more of the regions of brain that we call ‘old cortex’, ie limbic etc. The inside of their skulls shows far fewer folds in the cortex. So they had bigger regions of the brain that were more primitive as well. Its more about how big the frontal cortical regions are than brain volume per se. A huge cerebellum and amygdala wont make you smart.”

By: EcoPhysioMichelle

EcoPhysioMichelle — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:48:30 +0000

Meng: I know that. You, Katharine, and Razib know that. The general public who doesn’t understand what terms like “primitive” and “derived” mean in this context doesn’t know that. Primitive, in the common usage, has a negative connotation.

By: Meng Bomin

Meng Bomin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:47:15 +0000

I’m going to echo Katharine here and point out that primitive vs. derived does not a value judgment make. It’s certainly is an interesting direction and could tell us more about the differences between Neandertals and modern humans in terms of cognitive differences, but it seems to me as only an initial hint.

By: Chris T

Chris T — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:32:36 +0000

This is fortuitous timing; I was discussing this very subject on Overcoming Bias in regards to the odds of human type intelligence arising.

By: Katharine

Katharine — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:58:05 +0000

Why is ‘primitive’ such an issue?

At least to me, this makes me think mostly that perhaps humanity may be either 1) a little more primitive than we think or 2) requiring of somewhat less than thought to be ‘non-primitive’.

By: No nos parecemos tanto a los Neandertales. « Pablo Della Paolera

No nos parecemos tanto a los Neandertales. « Pablo Della Paolera — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:23:28 +0000

[...] *Current Biology – Brain development after birth differs between Neanderthals and modern humans *Size doesn’t always matter [...]

By: Tweets that mention Size doesn’t always matter | Gene Expression | Discover Magazine -- Topsy.com

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:49:23 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Razib Khan, Ron Simon, Barbara Mack, Alltop Science, Geoffrey Dyson and others. Geoffrey Dyson said: Size doesn’t always matter | Gene Expression: Neandertals famously had larger cranial capacities than modern hum… http://bit.ly/cTrjUt [...]