ReligionDiscuss General Theology, Religions and Denominations, God's Attributes, Predestination and Free Will, Dispensationalism, Eschatology, Philosophy, Origins, Archaeology, Science, World History and other such topics.
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A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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Believers in evolution, I have a question -
December 17th, 2009, 08:44 PM
If evolution is true why is there such a huge discrepancy in the human brain and animal brains? Wouldn't there be some animals, say monkeys that are almost as smart as humans? I know there's some smart monkeys that are learning the alphabet but there's still no comparison, not even close.
Serious question here.
Animals don't built much of anything but nests and Beavers make dams etc......... no animal has built a Boeing 787 or a skyscraper.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
If evolution is true why is there such a huge discrepancy in the human brain and animal brains? Wouldn't there be some animals, say monkeys that are almost as smart as humans? I know there's some smart monkeys that are learning the alphabet but there's still no comparison, not even close.
Serious question here.
Animals don't built much of anything but nests and Beavers make dams etc......... no animal has built a Boeing 787 or a skyscraper.
And yet we still are not the most successful species on the planet...
Crumb eating dog and least in the kingdom of heaven.
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There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
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December 17th, 2009, 08:54 PM
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Originally Posted by BabyChristian
If evolution is true why is there such a huge discrepancy in the human brain and animal brains? Wouldn't there be some animals, say monkeys that are almost as smart as humans? I know there's some smart monkeys that are learning the alphabet but there's still no comparison, not even close.
Serious question here.
Animals don't built much of anything but nests and Beavers make dams etc......... no animal has built a Boeing 787 or a skyscraper.
Don't forget that there are many extinct predecessors to our current human race Homo sapiens. From what I understand races like Homo neanderthalis, Homo erectus and so forth had simpler brains than us.
Besides, as Cracked also said, intelligence is not the only criteria. The most successful lifeforms on earth, like virus and bacteria, do not even have a brain.
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει.
"Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your new bride through a veil"
If evolution is true why is there such a huge discrepancy in the human brain and animal brains? Wouldn't there be some animals, say monkeys that are almost as smart as humans
I think that evolutionary theory has a reasonable answer to this. The idea is that the process of developing higher intelligence must be very rare. If the process begins at all, it is so advantageous that intelligence can quickly become a very important thing in determining the survival of an individual. Perhaps it becomes a sort of rare runaway reaction that, once started, can happen at a faster and faster rate until it reaches the point where intelligence is actually self-defeating in genetic terms.
As an analogy, imagine that you're playing miniature golf. You hit the ball off the tee and out into the green to all varying distances and maybe you get a really nice scattered distribution (some near...some farther away). However, if there is a hole which connects down to a lower level then the balls that are hit just right will continue rolling all the way down to the next flat spot. There will be no balls sitting in the tube and the balls at the lower level might be very far away from those on the upper level, but that doesn't mean that all the balls didn't come from the same source.
Another way of saying this is that sometimes there is no equilibrium position between one point and another. For humanity, perhaps there is no equilibrium position between the intellect of apes and the intellect of modern humans. Incidentally, think we hit our flat spot some time ago and our intellects are now decreasing!
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The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - C.S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:11 PM
Remember that our technology is not purely because we're smart (even though we are plenty smart), there are plenty of smart animals.
But because we have culture to pass on our knowledge, enabling each generation to stand on the shoulders of giants. The prime aspects of culture are language and *gasp* teaching. No other species teaches in the way that humans do.
Can you imagine if you were left in the forest with no knowledge of anything and had to survive? You wouldn't be building 747s right off the bat for sure.
If you want to learn more I'd suggest watching Ape Genius. Very cool.
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Persephone66
That is something that separates up from the rest of the animals, isn't it?
Why are our brains different? They just evolved that way I guess.
Not even close to an answer.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alate_One
Remember that our technology is not purely because we're smart (even though we are plenty smart), there are plenty of smart animals.
But because we have culture to pass on our knowledge, enabling each generation to stand on the shoulders of giants. The prime aspects of culture are language and *gasp* teaching. No other species teaches in the way that humans do.
Can you imagine if you were left in the forest with no knowledge of anything and had to survive? You wouldn't be building 747s right off the bat for sure.
If you want to learn more I'd suggest watching Ape Genius. Very cool.
Haven't you heard there's a Boeing 787 now? Check out the pictures. I guess there's an order for 50 of them to be built now.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alate_One
Regardless, do YOU have any idea how to build one? I know I don't
Edited, was argumentative appearing.
The fact that the Wright brothers just last century were trying to fly and now we have Boeing 787s is amazing to me.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:47 PM
I tend to disagree with everyone's explanation. I don't think there should be such a discrepancy in our brains if evolution is true and there's scientists that agree. Many.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Non-Fiction
Human Brain and Animal Brain, Analogous? No!: A Keen Example of Objective Scientific Argument by Professor Pierre Dugelay, Ph.D., Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Translation to English Permitted for Higher Education Purposes Only
by Daniel Byard Cox
The human brain is quite elaborate. It employs electrochemical mechanisms and triggers physiological responses so complex that even science has struggled to understand it all. Many scientists would, in fact, categorize the human brain as a “final frontier.” The depths of outer space, the depths of the ocean, and the depths of corporate greed are other frontiers similarly designated. Animals, of course, have brains too, but their brains tend to be adept at merely driving self-preservation and the continuation of their species
So let’s agree for a moment that the scope of the human brain goes beyond that of animals. And let’s narrow and simplify the argument by suggesting that, independent of intelligence and the ability to reason, the basic framework of the human brain differs substantially from that of the animal brain. Humans are, after all, unpredictable. We often act in a manner contradictory to the primal programming that governs the behavior of animals, the programming to, above all, survive and reproduce. Unlike animals, members of our species ride motorcycles and wear condoms.
Of course, humans sometimes exhibit behavior consistent with the animal instincts to reproduce and self-preserve. Many people aggressively seek sex. For most humans though, the focus is to enjoy the act and not reproduce. Is the desire to have sex the same as the instinct to reproduce, if, as is the case with humans, the subjects purposely avoid reproducing? The answer to that question is obvious enough! Reproduction may receive focus during a human sexual encounter of this variety, but only as a perceived threat to the success of the encounter.
In addition to reproduction, the threat of disease may be considered during human sexual encounters (though often, as is true with the pregnancy threat, the concern doesn’t arise until after unprotected orgasm). The principle and practice of safe sex is not self-preservation though; rather, it is simply an indoctrination forced upon all our young people that, incidentally, includes an overdose of sexual content in all mass media.
Some stubborn, short-sighted people will continue to argue, however, that a willingness to protect oneself from disease involves the animal self-preservation instinct. They, of course, are uninformed and/or mistaken. Let me explain. We know that humans often experience a desire for sex. Now, do some humans fulfill this desire and engage in sex despite the threat of health risks? Why, yes they do! So, once again, we cannot draw parallels between the behavior of intelligent humans and that of animals.
Some people argue that humans and animals are both discriminatory when selecting mates; and they assert that this tendency involves the reproductive instinct. This line of thinking is faulty though. First of all, let’s challenge the notion that animals are as selective as humans. In the animal kingdom, a stray dog in heat will settle for whatever is available. Of course, sometimes a garish female will only accept an alpha male who aggressively competes for her. And sometimes animals are drawn to, or scared off by, loud calls or seductive mating signals or thick fur. But obviously human partner selection is more intricate than what I have just described. Human partner selection involves more variables. One of those variables, alcohol, may render humans quite indiscriminate, however. And money is a variable that abridges the selection process by trumping, or diminishing the importance of, all other variables. Even so, humans select mates carefully and in an entirely different fashion than animals. And, while an animal’s only goal is to reproduce, the human relationship and courting ritual, even if two people merely engage in a one-night romance initiated at closing time, are more complex. And so, we’ve identified another clear divergence between human and animal behavior, and hence, their respective brains.
Out of fairness to animals in this argument though, let’s explore further the supposed connection between sex and reproduction. Does the human desire for sex stem from the animal instinct to reproduce? Sex, after all, is required to reproduce. Or is it? No, it is not! Artificial insemination can be used, thereby obliterating the link between sex and reproduction! God, I should’ve been a lawyer. Except, I guess, artificial insemination is used to create not only humans, but horses and other animals like goats. Yes, but animals don’t request the procedure whereas humans do. Horses don’t have the same complicated issues with fertility and sexual partners. Well, they may have issues; but humans—who, because of superior intelligence, are the doctors in both cases—do not seek to identify, or acknowledge if identified, a female horse’s desire to have a same-sex partner and a baby. Of course, artificial insemination is perfect for such a horse. And fertility/impotence issues may be diagnosed and treated in, say, a Kentucky Derby winner. But, I still maintain that there is quite a large difference between humans and horses.
All animals, horses and rabid dogs included, act predictably and according to a simple, clearly defined cerebral algorithm. This is not true of humans—unless, it is only fair to mention, and as I indicated in one example, they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But I contend, as summarized in this writing, that there are underlying fundamental differences between the brains of humans and those of animals, differences independent of intelligence, the ability to reason, and a dog’s cruel desire to bite a child (when all I wanted to do was pet the animal).
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
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December 17th, 2009, 10:50 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alate_One
The point I'm making is our collective knowledge is compartmentalized - everyone has some pieces and ultimately only a few are at the cutting edge.
It is amazing, again it comes down to the fact that our ability to communicate allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants.
So why are we able to communicate so effectively and animals aren't if that's the entire reason we're so much more advanced?
It just seems to me that there would be some animals that are closer to humans in intellect and also in our ability to communicate so effectively if evolution were true.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
Slogan/motto:
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
~C. S. Lewis
I saw a show about how much elephants grieve when one of their friends die and I saw a news special about how some monkeys of some sort ended up in the hospital for a while because they were grieving the death of a fellow monkey. They showed a monkey on a stretcher being taken to the hospital.
That's pretty amazing.
I don't kill bugs even unless I happen to occasionally go on a fly-killing rage.
I love animals, I love all living things except for humans more often because they make choices I don't like.
I watched a show last night on TV about the mafia's new way of making money and it showed gambling and dog fights. I had to turn it, I get so upset. Also there's this thing humans are doing now called "trunking" where they put two dogs in the trunk of a car and let them fight until one is dead and they make bets on it. It makes my physically ill how humans can be to animals. I remember accidentally watching a bull fight when I was about 12 and I totally freaked out over it, I had no clue what they did in a bull fight.
I'm just trying to figure out why so many Christians believe in evolution. I guess the Bible simply didn't have to go into all of the inner workings of God and how he did things.
"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do." ~ A.W. Tozer
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