Looking forward to the next episode! Great work Jack! Possibly the next major change the brain will encounter will be due to virtual reality. Maybe this will be dialectical as our brains will to some degree return to the pre-language period in which the hallucinatory aspect will be rekindled. There is also a trend toward the use of psychedelics and is this possibly a nod toward the hardwiring of our brain that has been neglected due to speech, writing, printing, and coding?
great stuff, and writing, jack. having been trained more as an academic biologist, my interests tend to lean toward the morphological and physiological changes that have led to these extraordinary skills. classical evolutionary theory would suggest that small, very gradual, but critical variationss must, to some degree, have been present in our ancestor's brains to be molded by certain environmental pressures leading to these uniquely human characteristics. neurons in the brain connecting and reconnecting in creative patterns, perhaps new and more adaptive neurotransmitters were 'evolved' - who knows? but something organic happened over an unusually short evolutionary timespan. how to explain memory, consciousness, language, and writing in scientific terms is what i thirst for. and, of course, what is next? and, if we ever so completely understand our brain's development and function, how might we, in our manipulative and selfish ways, really screw things up? can't wait for your next installment.
My own experience with the impact of literacy on brain function comes from dealing with entrepreneurs with business ideas. I always insist that they write a business plan, first and foremost for themselves. Even in my own business career I often found that writing down what I thought was a good idea or proposal forced me to examine my assumptions and logic more closely. What was easy to argue when talking was not so easy when you faced it on paper. My refrain with many entrepreneurs: the discipline of putting your ideas to paper is extremely important.
A question: what can we learn about brain function and literacy from illiterate people, of which there are, unfortunately, many in the world today?
Great article! I've often thought about the phases of human evolution through outwardly observable phenomena (e.g. transition from nomadic, to agrarian, to industrial civilizations), but never stopped to think about the human brain's evolution over time. The idea that, before written speech, humans may not have had consciousness as we understand it today is fascinating. Its easy to think about shifts in human reasoning over time, but the thought that our capacity for reason itself has evolved as well, is enthralling.
Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next update.
Jack this is very interesting. Looking forward to more. The bible comments were very thought provoking.
Fascinating!
Looking forward to the next episode! Great work Jack! Possibly the next major change the brain will encounter will be due to virtual reality. Maybe this will be dialectical as our brains will to some degree return to the pre-language period in which the hallucinatory aspect will be rekindled. There is also a trend toward the use of psychedelics and is this possibly a nod toward the hardwiring of our brain that has been neglected due to speech, writing, printing, and coding?
great stuff, and writing, jack. having been trained more as an academic biologist, my interests tend to lean toward the morphological and physiological changes that have led to these extraordinary skills. classical evolutionary theory would suggest that small, very gradual, but critical variationss must, to some degree, have been present in our ancestor's brains to be molded by certain environmental pressures leading to these uniquely human characteristics. neurons in the brain connecting and reconnecting in creative patterns, perhaps new and more adaptive neurotransmitters were 'evolved' - who knows? but something organic happened over an unusually short evolutionary timespan. how to explain memory, consciousness, language, and writing in scientific terms is what i thirst for. and, of course, what is next? and, if we ever so completely understand our brain's development and function, how might we, in our manipulative and selfish ways, really screw things up? can't wait for your next installment.
My own experience with the impact of literacy on brain function comes from dealing with entrepreneurs with business ideas. I always insist that they write a business plan, first and foremost for themselves. Even in my own business career I often found that writing down what I thought was a good idea or proposal forced me to examine my assumptions and logic more closely. What was easy to argue when talking was not so easy when you faced it on paper. My refrain with many entrepreneurs: the discipline of putting your ideas to paper is extremely important.
A question: what can we learn about brain function and literacy from illiterate people, of which there are, unfortunately, many in the world today?
Great article! I've often thought about the phases of human evolution through outwardly observable phenomena (e.g. transition from nomadic, to agrarian, to industrial civilizations), but never stopped to think about the human brain's evolution over time. The idea that, before written speech, humans may not have had consciousness as we understand it today is fascinating. Its easy to think about shifts in human reasoning over time, but the thought that our capacity for reason itself has evolved as well, is enthralling.
Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next update.