f05e3044   
   From: green_knight@greenknight.org.uk.invalid   
      
   David Friedman wrote:   
      
   > If [intelligence] has costs--calories used to support the brain, which I   
   > gather is a power hungry organ,   
      
   So are muscles. As far as I cn tell, muscles are hungrier in the sense   
   that they need calorific input to maintain them even when they are not   
   used, whereas the brain, much of the time, is happy to just sit there   
   and do nothing and only needs feeding when in use. This negates the   
   drawback. OTOTH, having a well-working brain will give you access to   
   more food, or to ways of preserving food, or of making it digestible, so   
   overall, I'd call it an advantage.   
      
   >or increased risk of death in childbirth due to a larger head,   
      
   You cannot, in the current human population, tell someone who is at one   
   end of the spectrum from someone at the opposite end, just by measuring   
   the size of their brains. While there may have been a correlation a long   
   way back in evolution, it is not relevant for the current discussion.   
      
      
      
   > And even if the outcome itself is an unambiguous advantage, there must   
   > be costs to getting it, otherwise everyone would be at the maximum.   
      
   Humans are complex. There are clear advantages to any number of traits,   
   and a number of survival strategies. 'The maximum' does not always give   
   a measurable competitive advantage - you only need _enough_ of a trait.   
      
   Doesn't matter how intelligent you are if you cannot keep up with your   
   family group or if you cannot digest your food.   
      
      
      
   Catja   
      
      
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   writing blog @ http://beyond-elechan.livejournal.com   
      
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