WWB Trainer
WWB Takeaways
Brain Evolution: From Precognitive to Consciousness
MODE:
~
5 minutes
of takeaways.
10 takeaways. Ten complete ideas.
1.
From History: circa 15 Million Years Ago
Inferior frontal gyrus homologues, Mirror neuron systems
Great ape communication goes back roughly 15 million years, long before human language. What we call language didn’t emerge from nothing. It grew out of older systems of sounds, gestures, and signals shared across animals as evolution progressed.
2.
The Congo river split Bonobos and chimpanzees about 1.5 million years ago. Chimpanzees are stronger, more aggressive, and have lighter skin. Bonobos have darker skin from birth and are thinner and more bipedal.
3.
“Fur” and “hair” are not biologically distinct in primates; all great apes have hair made of the same material. What changes over evolution is not the follicle pattern, but hair thickness and density. That ancient pattern long predates humans. Our sparse, human-like appearance represents an extreme shift in hair behavior—likely tied to sweating, endurance movement, and changing lifestyles.
4.
“Fur” and “hair” are not biologically distinct in primates; all great apes have hair made of the same material. What changes over evolution is not the follicle pattern, but hair thickness and density. That ancient pattern long predates humans. Our sparse, human-like appearance represents an extreme shift in hair behavior—likely tied to sweating, endurance movement, and changing lifestyles.
5.
Chimpanzee IQ is tricky to pin down because IQ tests are designed for humans, but we can estimate their intelligence with the Encephalization Quotient (EQ). A typical chimp has an EQ of around 2.35, translating to a human IQ of 35 to 40. While it’s fun to speculate, it’s important to remember that chimps don’t think like us—they don’t ask questions or reason abstractly.
6.
Biologically, you’re constantly changing: cells, synapses, even memories shift. Identity is less a fixed thing and more a maintained pattern. Neuroscience shows that identity isn’t a fixed object stored in the brain. Your are constantly changing. What feels like a stable “you” is a maintained pattern: held together by memory, habits, and the story you keep updating.
7.
Jurassic Park gave dinosaurs a sharper mind to match their sharp teeth. The idea is speculative, but it is not pure fantasy. Crows are dinosaurs, and they are very smart. Their intelligence sharpened over a few million years, building on a bird-style brain with roots going back at least 100 million years. So while we have no proof that non-avian dinosaurs reached crow-level smarts, it is reasonable to suspect that some cousin theropod lines may have been very intelligent. Over 170 million years of dinosaur evolution, it is fun to wonder about the smartest species. Were some crow-smart? Smarter?
“Done.” Refresh for another set.
WWB Trainer
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
