CategoryEvolution
At Quanta: High Bird Intelligence Developed on a Different Path
High intelligence developing on different paths is consistent with convergent evolution. It’s also consistent with design in nature
Is the Human Race Evolving Toward a Final Spiritual Unity? Part 2
Teilhard thought that evolution needed to be seen from the inside, viewing humans not only as observers of evolution but also as its products
Is the Human Race Evolving Toward a Final Spiritual Unity? Part 1
Philosopher and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin thought so but many other thinkers have found his Omega point too simplistic
Did the Enlargement of the Human Brain Depend on Two Genes?
The genes, unique to humans, spurred brain growth when introduced in mice and chimpanzee stem cells
At a Science Journal: Humanity Is Just So Doomed
Opinions differ as to the details of what will wipe us all out — or maybe not
Abstract Reasoning in Human Ancestors: Earlier Than Thought?
Researchers say, bone tools were being mass produced 1.5 million years ago in the in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania
A Catholic Priest Talks About Human Evolution
Fr. Martin Hilbert approaches the topic from the perspective of evidence, reason, and faith — and realism about what is at stake in the discussion
New Book: The Catholic Case for the Design of Nature
Fr. Martin Hilbert notes that the history of life seems more like a separate collection of bushes than a single tree
Proof of Darwinism Lies in a Book That Was Never Written…
Terry Scambray looks at Robert Shedinger’s Darwin’s Bluff, which tells the tale of the proof that Darwin was always “going to” provide
Liberal Prof: Intelligent Design Is Not Just for Conservatives
Robert Shedinger’s findings certainly changed his perception of the nature of the controversy over Darwinism
Can Chimpanzees Help Us Understand How Human Language Started?
If the capacity for a human mind was present before humans and chimps diverged (if they did), why did no chimpanzee develop one?
At SciAm: When did human ancestors start using stone tools?
Setting aside the question of whether the various groups mentioned in the article are in fact our ancestors, stone tool use is not even confined to primates
Do We Need Language To Think? Some Researchers Say No
At one time, it was strictly a philosophical issue but then neuroscientists got involvedA controversy about whether we need language to think pits two MIT scholars against each other: Noam Chomsky (yes) vs. Evelina Fedorenko (no). For a long time, it was only a philosophical issue: Plato saw thinking as a conversation with oneself. If you don’t form concepts into words are you really thinking? Chomsky agreed. But later, neuroscientists like Fedorenko got involved, offering some research findings. Last summer at the New York Times, science writer Carl Zimmer reported, When Dr. Fedorenko began this work in 2009, studies had found that the same brain regions required for language were also active when people reasoned or carried out arithmetic. But Dr. Fedorenko and other researchers discovered that this overlap was a mirage. Part Read More ›
Can Brain Structure Alone Explain Why We Have Language?
How human languages came to exist is an unsolved mystery within science
Billboard Chris Asks a Sharp Question About “Evolution”
On a logical basis, Elston’s critique is unanswerable — but logic no longer has the status that it once did. Nor does evidence.
At Big Think: Getting Stoned Shaped the Modern Mind
Cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian sees human civilization forming something like “the brain of Gaia” in a cosmos that is becoming increasingly conscious
How Will Media Address Growing Doubts About Darwin?
In the water flea study, the doubts sound as if they are coming from inside the house. One news story sheds light on a reporting strategy
Decade-Long Study: No Evidence Found for Darwinian Evolution
After many generations, water fleas showed no evidence of changing genetically to adapt to their environment, as the theory would predict