“We are the largest brained, slowest developing member of the largest brained, slowest developing mammalian order.”
Humans are by far the smartest species on Earth. We can read, write, build infrastructure, and organize governments. The evolution of human intelligence was critical as the first humans learned to be better hunters and, more recently, growing intelligence enabled early humans to compete with each other for status in complex social groups. The intelligence “arms race” resulted in rapid growth in cognitive ability and a growth in the size of the human brain, as brain size accounts for 16% of variance in intelligence. Image Credit
In conjunction with the rapid growth in human intelligence was the evolution towards walking on two legs. The reason we evolved to walk on two legs is still debated but walking on two legs requires smaller pelvises. This is where things get tricky. Women needed to adapt to walk upright with smaller pelvises while also having a larger pelvis to account for a baby with a bigger brain.
The compromise was one of evolutionary genius - while many animals are functional moments after birth (being able to walk and look for food), humans need years to be self-sufficient. This is, in part, because our brains are not fully developed until we’re adults but we have the incredible ability to learn. If humans get smart after birth their brains can be smaller at birth – a work around for the evolutionary tug of war.
The physical adaptions are many: baby’s skulls are made of pieces that shift during birth, women’s pelvises temporarily separate during delivery, and the space for the brain increases dramatically in infancy. Another key adaptation is how the brain itself worked. “Evolution made human beings learn what they need about the world, rather than having it inborn.”
This also helps humans adapt to their environment and learn much more for a much longer period of time.
So the fact that we are born helpless babies is the key to becoming a genius!
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