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Big Brains and the Human Superorganism

Why Special Brains Appear in Hominids and Other Social Animals
  • ISBN-13: 9781498540896
  • Publisher: ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS
    Imprint: LEXINGTON BOOKS
  • By Niccolo Leo Caldararo
  • Price: AUD $90.99
  • Stock: 0 in stock
  • Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
  • Local release date: 14/07/2020
  • Format: Paperback 266 pages Weight: 0g
  • Categories: Evolution [PSAJ]
Description
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This book examines why humans have big brains, what big brains enable us to do, and how specialized brains are associated with eusociality in animals. It explores why brains expanded so slowly, and then why they stopped growing. This book whittles down the theories on brain size evolution to a few that represent testable hypotheses to identify logical and practical explanations for the phenomenon. At the core of this book is data derived from original, previously unpublished research on brain size in a number of social mammals. This data supports the idea that evolution of the brain in humans is the result of social interaction. This book also traces the products of the social brain: ideology, religion, urban life, housing, and learning and adapting to dense complex social interactions. It uniquely compares brain evolution in social animals across the animal kingdom, and examines the nature of the human brain and its evolution within the social and historical context of complex human social structures.
Part I: Brains and Performance Chapter 1: Cranimania and Human Behavior Chapter 2: Brains: What are They Good For? Chapter 3: Group Size, Territory and Disease Chapter 4: Performing as Human or as a Social Being Chapter 5: Smooth Brains, Convolutions, Complexity and Ability Chapter 6: Brain Sizes, Bigness and Neurons Chapter 7: A Brain of Two Parts: Cortex vs. Cerebellum Chapter 8: The Future of the Human Brain Part II: History of a Genus and the Evolution of Society Chapter 9: Anthropocentric or Indifferent Universe? Chapter 10: Racism As a Human Disease Chapter 11: Learning and "Hard Wiring" Chapter 12: The Housing Crisis and Homelessness Chapter 13: On the Curious Illusion of Human Uniqueness References About the Author
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