imho, one of the fruitful ways to look at human brain evolution is via SJG's exaptation.
Stephen Jay Gould (1991), one of the best known evolutionary thinkers, poses a problem for evolutionary psychologists such as Buss et al (May 1998) -- in spite of his status as an evolutionary theorist, he argues that human psychology links not to past evolutionary adaptions but the coopting of previously evolved functions to do new things -- exaptation. Moreover, he links our expanded brain with this: 'The human brain, is par excellence, the chief exemplar of exaptation' (Gould, 1991, p. 55), and 'exaptations of the brain must greatly exceed adaptation by orders of magnitude' (Gould, 1991, p. 57). Examples of such exaptations, he suggests, are language, religion, fine arts, writing and reading. from: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skoyles/buss.htm
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Date: 2003-10-09 06:13 pm (UTC)Stephen Jay Gould (1991), one of the best known evolutionary thinkers, poses a problem for evolutionary psychologists such as Buss et al (May 1998) -- in spite of his status as an evolutionary theorist, he argues that human psychology links not to past evolutionary adaptions but the coopting of previously evolved functions to do new things -- exaptation. Moreover, he links our expanded brain with this: 'The human brain, is par excellence, the chief exemplar of exaptation' (Gould, 1991, p. 55), and 'exaptations of the brain must greatly exceed adaptation by orders of magnitude' (Gould, 1991, p. 57). Examples of such exaptations, he suggests, are language, religion, fine arts, writing and reading.
from: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skoyles/buss.htm