Comments by "bakters" (@bakters) on "A Nigerian at Oxford" video.

@InqvisitorMagnvs " Intelligence most likely originated as a domain-specific evolutionary adaptation to enable humans to solve evolutionarily novel, unfamiliar, nonrecurrent problems " I disagree with that. I think that constant tool use and the required dexterity was what prompted the development of better brains. In other words, it was a physical stimulus, not a mental one. " Highly intelligent people possess no advantage in those mundane and predictable aspects of life " What's worse, having big and active brain requires lots of calories to feed it, so it's a disadvantage. That's why most animals are not very smart. Some are abnormally smart though, like octopuses. As it happens, their bodies require extreme dexterity. Intelligence is simply a byproduct. " Smart people have advantages only in evolutionarily novel situations wherein a person needs to be able to think " Social life and the politics of the herd are nothing new or unexpected. Intelligence gives a huge advantage there. It's just that usually it's too costly to be worth it. Just thinking aloud: The currently prevailing opinion is based around savanna and breaking open skulls and bones left by the top predators. I don't buy it. This source of food is not reliable enough. I rather think that those early apes started feeding on shellfish. If you can pry them off the rock, or smash their shells open with a stone, it's like "all you can eat buffet". That's how we lost our furs and started sweating (too much salt, which is rare on savanna). At least it makes more sense to me, than walking out in the open among top predators in hopes they left something over for you.
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