• In total there are 3 users online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 3 guests (based on users active over the past 60 minutes)
    Most users ever online was 789 on Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:08 am

Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

#141: Oct. - Dec. 2015 (Non-Fiction)
User avatar
Chris OConnor

1A - OWNER
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 17019
Joined: Sun May 05, 2002 2:43 pm
21
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 3511 times
Been thanked: 1309 times
Gender:
Contact:
United States of America

Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Please use this thread to discuss the above chapter
youkrst

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
One with Books
Posts: 2752
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:30 am
13
Has thanked: 2280 times
Been thanked: 727 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

i was having a quick look in chapter two and found this...
Don't make the mistake of forgetting or never caring about your brain's ability to dream without limits and take you anywhere. It's the best part of being human.
good advice :)
youkrst

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
One with Books
Posts: 2752
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:30 am
13
Has thanked: 2280 times
Been thanked: 727 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

this bit from Ian Tattersall quoted in Ch. 2


Ian Tattersall wrote:The human brain, whatever its marvels, probably does not contain any completely new structures— any structures, indeed, that are not shared with all of our primate— or even mammal— relatives, however humble. Thus we cannot look merely to entirely novel brain components to explain our cognitive powers, however elegant an explanation that would be. What has happened over our evolutionary history, however, is that certain parts of the human brain have become enlarged or reduced relative to others and the connections between them modified or enhanced. Even this is not unique to us, though: for while we undeniably have the largest primate cerebral cortexes (about 76 percent of our large brain's total weight), there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of the brain occupied by the cerebral cortex and supporting structures among higher primates in general.
reminded me of a nature doco i was watching where two albatross' were snuggling after re-establishing their bond... it was so romantic :-D
brother bob
Kindle Fanatic
Posts: 530
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:37 pm
8
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

He makes the claim that we have been really only been studying the brain for the last couple of hundred years; while at the same time claiming that we are in a state of "disaster" about not knowing the full intricacies of its workings.

If man went thousands of years without knowing its inner workings and has achieved such heights, "Are we really in all of the trouble that he tries to convince us of?

My second point is he takes a quote on page 60, Seth Sostak, "I feel it is safe to claim that the majority of the intelligence in the cosmos is of the artificial variety."

How does this "joker" make such an audacious claim? Did he find some great compute on mars, venus or some other planet. What evidence dictates that articial life must be running the universe. Maybe it is rather a God?

Harrison spends the majority of this chapter saying that the "incredibly complex interactions between many different environments and countless millions of species."

He makes this ambiguous claim - but at the same time says we don't know how we got our current brain. How can he makes such a claim without any data to back it up? He actually claims we don't know where or how we got the brain. Purely hogwash!

3) Top of 66 is a bogus conceptual thought! "standing upright REDUCED the surface are of the body exposed to direct sun, making it easier to cool the brain." Two points of contention; when standing the heart beats faster than sitting - due to walking or working; and saying that less surface is heated by standing is a lie. Now if I was sitting the backside of my butt, thighs and legs would very likely not be exposed to sunlight. The actual concept is backwards. Standing would expose us to more sunlight and make our hearts be faster.

4) Understanding that he proposes clearly that we have gotten more complex over time is something that needs to be greatly question. Supposing that he is correct. Why does evolution need to become more complex? He says that evolution has no plan. Complexity points to an originator for something to be so complex.

5) He wants to conclude that all of the parts to our brain came from these different animals. Page 58, "We share brain parts and brain systems with many other animals." Yet, our brain somehow is more complex than other animals. Instead of claiming that animals parts of the brain were "weeded" out to produce our brain, How about trying another postulated position." God created man at the top of the "food chain" and copied the basic human composition when making animals because it worked so well. If I was such a Creator of beings and made the perfect prototype that worked so efficiently, I would pass on the same concepts to the other beings. Similarity of the human body with animals point to a logical creator who wanted the best for all the species. Making man understand that they came from a singular point instead of a mutation of beings. To further expound, there are other creatures that are nothing like the make up of man and most animals. Some have no brain, heart, lungs. This would show that a creator had an ability to make creatures of any kind. This too would question evolution since even Harrison concludes that it too MILLIONS of creatures to make the brain we have today. He is relying upon all species contributing to our brain matter.

He walks a line that is not logical and never seems to show support other than other kooks who make such bodacious and unsubstantiated claims.

6) He even concludes the chapter that for 100,000 years the DNA inside of us has generated that the same being reproduced. pg. 74

So he spends all of this time and energy claiming that our brain came from millions of species over billions of years, but for the last 100,000 years we put a halt to the evolutionary process by reproducing the same being, with the same brain. It seems he is making this up as he goes! He plays both sides of the fence and you guys take it in wholeheartedly without any questions from my observations so far, and for the most part.

D- again for this chapter. Politely saying, it is pure fodder!
User avatar
froglipz

1G - SILVER CONTRIBUTOR
Brilliant
Posts: 663
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:37 pm
14
Has thanked: 234 times
Been thanked: 111 times
United States of America

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

He makes this ambiguous claim - but at the same time says we don't know how we got our current brain. How can he makes such a claim without any data to back it up? He actually claims we don't know where or how we got the brain. Purely hogwash!


What he says is that we don't know at what point in our history our brain became the unique brain that we have, which minute evolution to point at and say "There! that's when we got our brain!"
3) Top of 66 is a bogus conceptual thought! "standing upright REDUCED the surface are of the body exposed to direct sun, making it easier to cool the brain." Two points of contention; when standing the heart beats faster than sitting - due to walking or working; and saying that less surface is heated by standing is a lie. Now if I was sitting the backside of my butt, thighs and legs would very likely not be exposed to sunlight. The actual concept is backwards. Standing would expose us to more sunlight and make our hearts be faster.


It isn't standing vs sitting, it's standing and walking upright vs walking on all fours. I don't know about it cooling our brains faster or shielding our bodies from sunlight, although some scientists believe that, but it definitely gave them the advantage of a higher vantage point.
4) Understanding that he proposes clearly that we have gotten more complex over time is something that needs to be greatly question. Supposing that he is correct. Why does evolution need to become more complex? He says that evolution has no plan. Complexity points to an originator for something to be so complex.
Or a greater understanding of our environment and how to manipulate it.

I wish it were as easy to see my own biases and preconceived notions in my own interpretations. And, of course, mine are the right ones :) :joke:
~froglipz~

"I'm not insane, my mother had me tested"

Si vis pacem, para bellum: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
User avatar
Interbane

1G - SILVER CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 7203
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:59 am
19
Location: Da U.P.
Has thanked: 1105 times
Been thanked: 2166 times
United States of America

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

brother bob wrote:If man went thousands of years without knowing its inner workings and has achieved such heights, "Are we really in all of the trouble that he tries to convince us of?
The length of time we've gone without running into catastrophe has nothing to do with whether or not we'll have one in the near future. This is a sort of gamblers fallacy.
He makes this ambiguous claim - but at the same time says we don't know how we got our current brain. How can he makes such a claim without any data to back it up? He actually claims we don't know where or how we got the brain. Purely hogwash!
There's nothing wrong with his reasoning. We don't know how we got our current brain. The lack of data evidencing the process is how he backs this up. The very fact that we're missing data supports his point. Your reasoning is horribly flawed bob.
Two points of contention; when standing the heart beats faster than sitting - due to walking or working; and saying that less surface is heated by standing is a lie. Now if I was sitting the backside of my butt, thighs and legs would very likely not be exposed to sunlight. The actual concept is backwards. Standing would expose us to more sunlight and make our hearts be faster.
The surface area exposed to the sun when standing is the top of the head, shoulders and feet. Far more area is exposed in a quadriped, like a horse or cow. This isn't a point of contention. You're fabricating reasons to dismiss him.
Complexity points to an originator for something to be so complex.
No, complexity indicates differential selection.
How about trying another postulated position." God created man at the top of the "food chain" and copied the basic human composition when making animals because it worked so well.
Because Harrison deals with evidence rather than make-believe. A fantasy story written by ancient Romans is not a source of evidence. Evolution is shown to be true by so much evidence that it isn't worth arguing over it anymore. You're simply wrong bob. I know you don't think so, but I don't care. You are.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - Douglas Adams
brother bob
Kindle Fanatic
Posts: 530
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:37 pm
8
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

Interbane, the Romans did not write any of the Bible. Where did you get such a fallacious claim? PLease, show that proof? Because I know that you can't.

The Septuagint was a Greek text done by Jewish scholars to make it readable for Roman's. That in now ways makes them the originator of such a text. It was simply a translation of the Jewish Bible. Even the New Testament was written in Greek doesn't make it the Romans. The Romans were a nation, not an institution that had a part in MAKING the Bible.

Even Constantine who originated the Gregorian Calendar set it by the birth of Jesus Christ - AD. Pretty amazing to make the calendar on the BIRTH of someone. Could we make our calendar to be dated 1 Obama, Bush, Clinton or anybody? No way! The world wouldn't stand for it. But the most powerful nation in the world DID!

The Roman people did name the BIBLE - a compilation of BOOKS, called "the Book of Books." In time it has transitioned to mean "THEE BOOK OF BOOKS" - the most prestigious book of all time.

The Romans did name the CHRISTIANS - it was an insult meaning - little Christ. So the Romans did play an important part in the Bible, just not the originating of its TEXT.

Good day, hope that helps.
youkrst

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
One with Books
Posts: 2752
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:30 am
13
Has thanked: 2280 times
Been thanked: 727 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

Guy P. wrote:Evolution is not synonymous with progress, because progress implies that something is getting better. Better for what? If “better” a century ago or a million years ago turns out to be ineffective today, which happens all the time to numerous species, then “more evolved” can be a death sentence.
enjoyed reading that distinction.
youkrst

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
One with Books
Posts: 2752
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:30 am
13
Has thanked: 2280 times
Been thanked: 727 times

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

To drift through existence without understanding the brain or developing critical-thinking skills is to live an undervalued life. Why not maximize our membership in the only deep-thinking species known to exist? The human who does not embrace her brain's many powers with enthusiasm and a sense of ownership is like a dolphin that never swims or a falcon that never flies.
i think i am often catching Guy's boundless enthusiasm for better brain stewardship, and loving it.
User avatar
Harry Marks
Bookasaurus
Posts: 1920
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 10:42 am
12
Location: Denver, CO
Has thanked: 2335 times
Been thanked: 1020 times
Ukraine

Re: Ch. 2: Where Do Brains Come From? ("Good Thinking" - by Guy P. Harrison)

Unread post

youkrst wrote: reminded me of a nature doco i was watching where two albatross' were snuggling after re-establishing their bond... it was so romantic :-D
Chick flick.
Post Reply

Return to “Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser - by Guy P. Harrison”