For questions about the interaction of biological (or artificial) evolution and the cognitive agents that are influenced by it.
38
votes
4answers
3k views
Why do humans have sex in private?
Human couples usually have sex in private, hidden not only from predators, but also - other humans. It is unlike behavior of most species, including our relatives: bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas.
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14
votes
3answers
1k views
Is the Neanderthal Theory of Autistic brain a reasonable scientific theory?
I've recently learned about The Neanderthal Theory, that explains autistic (and especially Asperger's) brain functioning as the effect of genetical similarity with Neanderthals.
The author gives a ...
13
votes
3answers
607 views
Why does neuroplasticity decrease in adults?
Although adult brains are malleable and even undergo limited neuorgenesis, the extent of the neuroplasticiy is much lower than in children. This is most obvious in language acquisition, and recovery ...
11
votes
2answers
417 views
Why do humans prefer symmetrical arrangement of objects?
Most of the times, we associate symmetry with beauty. The symmetry may be in architectural/interior design for instance. Why would this be so ?
11
votes
0answers
119 views
Development of social cognition as an alternative to the obstetrical dilemma
Human infants are strange in that they are born more helpless than the infants of other great apes. They are born with about 25-30% of their brain developed, compared to the 40-50% of other great ...
10
votes
2answers
429 views
What can we learn from the neural networks of C.elegans to understand human brains?
Recently I am reading some works about Caenorhabditis Elegans. A C.elegans has 302 neurons and we already know the function and connection of every one of their neurons so that we can exactly ...
10
votes
1answer
113 views
Why do humans like being touched?
I wonder why people like to be touched so much, why would it make sense from a evolutionary perspective.
I know people enjoy hugs and company of opposite sex but even people from the same sex hug and ...
9
votes
1answer
208 views
What are biological primary mathematical skills?
In doing a bit of background reading for this question I came across a section in the book Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind on page 602 stating:
There are no sex-related differences ...
9
votes
1answer
124 views
How does evolution help in Minsky's theory of a resourceful mind?
I've read Minsky's book The Emotion Machine, where he explains how the mind can be seen as a set of resources interacting and self-interacting based on several levels of change. The explanation is in ...
9
votes
0answers
50 views
How similar are human brains within the same haplogroup?
I've grown up and went through school with a "politically correct" view on people that we are all "the same". The TED talk that I've listed below hints that this view might've arisen in the post-WW2 ...
9
votes
0answers
142 views
Evolutionary game theory in the cognitive sciences
Game theory models something very relevant to psychologists (in particular social psychologists): conflict and cooperation between decision-makers. Unfortunately, classical game theory demands that ...
8
votes
3answers
179 views
Can experience alter one's preferences for beauty?
My friend (a woman) is convinced that all men who find those posters of "women scantily clad in their bathing suits or thongs and big breasts (often fake)" attractive are simply brainwashed by ...
8
votes
1answer
207 views
Why are most people right handed?
How did right handedness win over left handedness in numbers?
Is it only a coincidence that there are more right handed people than left handed ones? Or, has some effect in nature explicitly made ...
7
votes
5answers
205 views
Does an exceptional working memory inhibit intelligence?
According to the Fox News article "Chimps Smarter Than Humans in Memory Test" chimps were able to significantly outperform humans in a simple working memory task. I quote one part of the article in ...
7
votes
3answers
122 views
What is the status of evolutionary psychology in academia today?
Having an interest in human psychology (but no formal training) I decided to take Coursera's Introduction to Psychology as a Science. Here's a snippet from an introductory lecture (it requires ...
6
votes
2answers
241 views
Is procrastination greater when skill is low and rewards offer low status boost and does this lead to efficient task allocation in groups?
I am very interested in procrastination, because it is such a clear sign of lack of motivation. I have a hypothesis about why we procrastinate, which I would like to get tested by you.
The assumption ...
6
votes
2answers
118 views
How is intelligence correlated to beauty?
Recently, I read up several interesting questions on the web about the relationship between IQ and general intelligence and physiological symmetry. But more importantly, what explains the correlation? ...
6
votes
0answers
368 views
Cultural brain hypothesis and gene-culture co-evolution
Recently, Joseph Henrich of UBC has been promoting his cultural brain hypothesis. The goal is to explain a selection pressure behind the development of the human brain and general intelligence. The ...
5
votes
1answer
132 views
Desire to climb from evolutionary perspective?
When I go near a hill or dune, I feel desire to climb there and have a wider look on the surroundings. I know a lot of people who love mountains and want to climb higher and higher, but never have ...
5
votes
1answer
61 views
Neurotransmitters appearance in the evolutionary process
Recently I disagreed with the assumption, that lots of neurotransmitters came within recent 10,000 years of Homo Sapiens evolution.
Judging from the available information sources, there is possibility ...
4
votes
1answer
304 views
What causes gender differences in responses to farting?
Background: By casual observation, I have noticed that males tend to react differently to the sound of a fart. It seems that men are more likely to laugh whereas women are more likely to show signs of ...
3
votes
0answers
26 views
When did neurotransmitters derived from monoamines first appear in evolutionary history?
When did neurotransmitters derived from monoamines first appear in evolutionary history?
What are main the points in evolution for monoamines based on the neurotransmitter system ?
Edition
I'm ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Why do we seem to have an internal drive to use different expressions(mostly when writing)?
How come we have so many words/phrases that share the same meaning?
I suppose the most obvious answer to this would be that through communication between people with accent/language A and B, new ...
-2
votes
2answers
281 views
Do people like those who are similar to them and why?
Questions
Is it true that people 'like' those who are similar to them?
Why is it so? Is there an evolutionary explanation?
