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Man has a large brain, a good part of it History of evolution, Is constantly growing. 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, Cro-Magnon and Homo sapiens had the largest brains. But about 3,000 years ago, in the current geological era of the Holocene, our brain size began to decline.
This is the highlight Recent study Dartmouth and Boston University scientists. Others estimate that this contraction began earlier: over the past 20,000 years, the average size of the human brain has shrunk from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350, with a 10% loss in size (equivalent to a tennis ball). After all, everyone agrees: the human brain shrinks. But why? Hypotheses abound.
Scientists, for example, thought that this contraction was due to a decrease in body size. But those at the University of Dortmouth and Boston have released a new scenario.
The role of collective intelligence
According to them, the decrease in the size of our brain is a result of the formation of our social systems. These promote the collection and sharing of knowledge and information, and have its benefits “Team Decision Making”. Socialization, knowledge sharing, and task division help the brain use less energy and better sort the information it collects. Who says less Knowledge to save Low reception space, so abstract said.
To establish this new hypothesis, scientists observed ants. “Humans live in social groups in which many brains contribute to the formation of collective intelligence.”, The group specifies. Ants work the same way “Features of Community”, As well as over “Large Groups, Stories of Agricultural Life, Labor and Collective Knowledge Division”.
The brain size of ants and their energy consumption have been studied. Scientists have come to understand that collective intelligence and the division of labor play a role in brain size variation. For efficiency, the brain contracts when ants share their knowledge and specialize in personal work.
