Intelligence vs Body Size

Gary Larson's cartoon, "Why the Dinosaurs Went Extinct", is as good an explanation as any.

It seems there are two components to brain size. Part of it is related to body size and the other is for "processing".

Here is a document which describes this:

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Int3.html

Well, according to this, small people are smarter than big people.

If you lose weight, will you get smarter?

I realize the graph is an average,but within that average,did they separate out people by BMI?

That is a study that should be done.

Makes it hard to explain how some people suffering from hydrocephalus , with only a small percentage of brain remaining, are able to function normally,and some even excelling in certain subjects.

I think scientists may be wrong about this.

The dinosaurs did not go extinct because of stupidity,but because of a cataclysm.

In the end, isn't the species that survives the longest the smartest?

If the human race survives for millions of years,we may prove to be be as smart as ants or dinosaurs.

I'm just trying to make it to the weekend

I think that you are being lured or are luring us into a false argument. In this case I think you are implying an argument of the beard, if not a Reductio Ad Absurdum, argument.

The species that survives the longest is clearly not the smartest. Several shark species in existence today predate the dinosaurs. Who knows which species of bacteria living on geothermal plumes at the bottom of our oceans predates the great extinction of the late Devonian or even the earlier Ordivician-Silurian extinction.

Someone asked me if I've lived here all my life. I said "Not yet!"

Well, according to this, small people are smarter than big people.

Really, then why is Walmart struggling...

^{Sorry, I couldn't bring myself to post any pictures........... and you're welcome.}

I've had the displeasure of working for and with enough small people to know that most just think they are smarter.

I have seen very few that ever been able to back their claims up with proof just like how they claim they can do the same physical work as a larger built person yet never seem to carry through on proving it.

Years ago in college I had a small guy in one of my classes that claimed he was as strong or stronger than anyone else that was bigger than him. I challenged him to simple hand to hand bar twisting contest. That is where you both grab a wood dowel about 1' - 1 1/4" in diameter and you each twist against the other to see whose grip is stronger.

I cranked him into the ground with about a dozen witnesses.

Good for you.

But a chimpanzee is 6 times stronger than you.

Does that mean he is smarter than you?

The original subject was concerning ratio of body mass vs brain mass,not strength vs size.

Steven Hawkins is 5'7""

Albert Einstein was 5'9"

But since you brought it up strength vs size

Meet Dennis Rogers at this link:

http://www.odditycentral.com/news/meet-dennis-rogers-the-pound-for-pound-worlds-strongest-man.html

What I was getting at is unfortunately the vast majority of small men I have dealt with in my life had a big chip/ego on their shoulders regarding their views of themselves Vs others.

I'm not saying that a man of small build is not as smart. Rather too many make up for small body size with way over inflated egos and no rational way to back themselves up.

Physical power Vs physical power is easy to prove who is stronger.

Brains Vs brains is not so easy especially if ones ego has given them enough excuses/ways out of any proof of capability competitions to ever have a true honest and valid match of wits.

My boss (small built guy) and I go around fairly often. He is convinced he is the smartest and most capable person at our company. Unfortunately no one else has a similar view. That said he has no issue calling me out on any and every oversight on my part but when called out on his own there is a near infinite number of excuses for what happened that invalidate the screwup as being due to lack of knowledge intelligence or experience. I however get no excuses.

As far as I see it the smarter people at work play the game as I do. We just let him think he won and walk away only to compare notes later. Small man and small things satisfy his ego.

Tall people are indeed smarter! Look at all those tall football and basketball players.

They can't be dumb and also get all those huge salaries!

Good Luck, Old Salt

" Thou do protest too much, me thinks"

Excuse the paraphrase,but I think you are really a small person trying to imitate a tall person.

Probably wear elevator shoes and vertical stripe shirts,a girdle,etc.

"On the 'net,you can be anything you want to be" said Snoopy.

Why else would you stray so far from the main topic to display your dissatisfaction with your personal life and work environment?

(By the way,if you are so smart,why aren't you the boss?)

You must air your grievances to someone, and since no one listens to a small person,such as yourself, you use the net for relief.

Whatever works for you,I say,but please do not inconvenience millions of electrons by playing that tiny violin,(you know, the one between thumb and forefinger?).

Take comfort in this:"A big person is not defined by altitude,but by attitude."

Nope. 6'3" 255#'s muscular build above average IQ according to the tests and what not as well.

I just like to go on line and speak my mind just as I do in day to day life. Some see it as whining and others see it as speaking without concern for diplomacy and find it rather refreshing and reassuring that not everyone walks talks acts and thinks alike.

If you don't believe me stop by and visit any time! Odds are we will get along far better than you may think.

In my immediate family you would be considered the runt of the litter.

I too am not diplomatic,and believe people are much too sensitive.

Instead of sending offenders to sensitivity training, they should send the offended to de-sensitivity training.

It is a tough world,and people are not always nice.

Get used to it, and "Get over it" (see link below"

https://www.google.com/search?q=get+over+it+eagles&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls

Yep. I actually got told and thanked by a coworker today just because I say what's on my mind and don't try to be overly sensitive about what needs to be said.

I told him I just treat people like I want to be treated which is thank me if I help and tell me what I did wrong when I screw up.

I guess I have a bit of a reputation at work for telling the truth as I see it and not hiding the bad stuff that needs to be said. Odd thing is I am also known for being one of the fairest and least judgemental listeners as well.

Not only smarter, they think their taller.... Or atleast bigger, especially in the taverns... I wonder why?

They ARE taller. They're taller because they HAVE studied, and learned the difference between there/their/they're ... they care about the difference between what is right, and that which is a ("dumbing down") attitude : "I is bigger, so I is smarter! Or I'm LOUDER, so I must be right!"

"Get a grip", man! Get rid of those demons that possess you so, and train your brain to recognize the lies and deceipt that this world has heaped upon your shoulders and shoveled down your throat.

Love ... not lust ...

Have your tried lifts in your shoes.... they do make you at least appear taller.

And take those stilettoes off, they don't count.

Very interesting and informative link.There seems to be much debate still on the relationship between the ratio of brain size to body size to intelligence.

A mouse has the same brain/body mass ration as a human,looking strictly at this factor alone.

Other factors influence intelligence,as stated in your link,so to judge intelligence by these factors is misleading and erroneous.

Since there are no preserved brains of dinosaurs to study,this is a leap for scientists to declare that dinosaurs were dumb.

Sure,they can go by skull shape to estimate brain volume and function, but all of the studies on the link provided were for mammalian species.

No reptiles or insects included.

Spiders are capable of planning ahead,improvising and modifying a plan according to variables,yet their brain is miniscule.

Mass ratios go out the window for other members of the animal kingdom.

The ultimate test of any species is the ability to pass the genes from one generation to another.The strongest and fittest survive.

It is imbedded into every species to procreate,either sexually or asexually.

The most successful survive,the rest perish.

Of all the species that have ever existed,the current species' census is only one percent.

Humans are a relative newcomer to the current scene,and our opinion of the intelligence of other species is jaded by personal bias.

A cataclysm could wipe out human civilization, as with the dinosaurs,or we may bring it upon ourselves,and an alien culture may find the anthropological layer of mankind to be very thin compared to other layers.

And their scientists may judge us as a dim witted species.

A species that does not have enough brains to save it's own hide from a self-induced catastrophe is not very smart.(IMHO)

Intelligence is very hard to define.

Dolphins have a language,and octopi can open a jar with a threaded lid,not having seen one before.

Ravens and other birds as well as primates, make tools,

And wolves can communicate without speech to make an ambush or trap for prey.

Large carnivore cats have been recorded making injured prey sounds to attract a meal.

I have watched a hunting spider go to plan B when plan A did not work out.

Cunning, planning and strategy is required to do this.

Humans have a different skill set, but not necessarily superior.

All other mammals adapt to their environment, we adapt our environment to suit ourselves,to our own peril,and to the peril of all other species on the planet.

Nuclear power plants built along fault lines,human error in nuclear plants.

Loading the atmosphere with carbon and methane and refrigerants.

Artificial DNA.

I am not opposed to progress,but at what cost?

Are we really that smart?

"Humans have a different skill set, but not necessarily superior."

I think you are sorely understating the cognitive power of humans.

All the examples you cited are fine, but orders of magnitude below the capabilities of humans.

Language alone tells us this. Just sit down with a copy of the works of Shakespeare. What other species on Earth even comes close? None have even a written language.

The human mistakes you cited are not the symbols of lack of intelligence. The only way not to make a mistake is to do nothing, which is not so smart. However, this subject is simply a diversion to the original argument.

As I previously mentioned about the Hyrocephalus-affected individuals;Cat scans revealed only a small ring of grey matter around the perimeter of the skull of one individual,the rest of the skull was filled with fluid.

This individual suffered no mental deficiencies or physical limitations or problems, and even excelled at math.

This is not an isolated case,as many were studied that also had no problems with less than 50% of the normal brain matter.

So what gives?

I guess I am trying to say you can't judge a brain by it's container,or apparently by the contents of the container either.

Personally I am not certain of anything.

My wife is way smaller than I am and I have been painfully made aware several times that she is definitely smarter than me.

If you doubt me? Then just ask her and don't forget to review my past track record.

and how many dinosaurs exist today?

The ones that are left we call "birds".

Does an Edsel count? Does my Mother-in-Law count?

Good Luck, Old Salt

I still have a Commodore 64 in storage in the basement, how's THAT for a dinosaur?

And my dad still has two Timex/Sinclair 1000's. He uses them as matching bookends.

What seems to me would be a better quantifier is the number of neurons and synapses devoted to a particular physiologic function.

(If you have to ask, don't bother.)

Based on the provided graph and using today's logic:

If we can find some way to significantly increase piracy, we can effectively decrease global warming. Right?

Have you asked your shrink this question?

Because a large animal can bully and intimidate to get what it wants, with little risk. Smaller animals have to be a bit more "creative".

There are no "simple" answers.

Period

"You Big Dummy"