Occupy Pacific
- Thread starter Scat
- Start date
That's not really how evolution works. And Dolphins have been known for being incredibly intelligent since antiquity. In fact, the Ancient Greeks had strict protections for dolphins, and at times even considered them people. I personally love Dolphins. Their behavior is closer to humans than most great apes. I am interested in higher intelligence, and I find it fascinating how intelligence tends to manifest in similar ways across very different species.
So slowly evolving larger, more complex brains is not how evolution works? Can that be proven? Would we have a long enough time span to prove or disprove that? I mean, wouldn't it take thousands of years to see real difference?
Edit: Reason I mention great Apes is the articles about their tool use, tribal/pack fighting, using sex for barter (bonobos), sign language use...
Oh, I was referring to "watching evolution take place". I thought you meant that it was possible to observe such major changes within a person's lifetime. As far as evolving bigger brains, evolution is not purposeful. Genes that offer a reproductive advantage tend to proliferate. It does not have to be directed toward any specific trait. Animals can evolve to be less intelligent. That happens all the time, since intelligence is a very expensive trait (energetically). However, I agree than the larger picture shows a path of increased complexity.
Well of course we can't truly see evolution but we can see a small single step slowly start to unfold. Ate these traits an characteristics will become more frequent over time.
Zulu
Well-Known Member
Yes we can! Especially in microorganism, where their generation time is really fast!