What is it about the human brain that makes us smarter than other animals?

[Still Waters]

Humans are unrivalled in the area of cognition. After all, no other species has sent probes to other planets, produced lifesaving vaccines or created poetry. How information is processed in the human brain to make this possible is a question that has drawn endless fascination, yet no definitive answers.

Our understanding of brain function has changed over the years. But current theoretical models describe the brain as a “distributed information-processing system”. This means that it has distinct components, which are tightly networked through the brain’s wiring. To interact with each other, regions exchange information though a system of input and output signals.

However, this is only a small part of a more complex picture. In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, using evidence from different species and multiple neuroscientific disciplines, we show that there isn’t just one type of information processing in the brain. How information is processed also differs between humans and other primates, which may explain why our species’ cognitive abilities are so superior.

https://theconversation.com/what-is-it-about-the-human-brain-that-makes-us-smarter-than-other-animals-new-research-gives-intriguing-answer-183848

A synergistic core for human brain evolution and cognition.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01070-0

[+ouija ouija]

I think seemingly limitless imagination is what sets us apart, but then that begs the question 'what is imagination'?

[L.A.T.1961]

Did the human brain reach a singularity point as size increased?

More and higher quality data and the need to cross process this data created an exponential increase in the brains ability. ? 

[Essan]

Who says we're smarter?

"....man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons."

DNA

Edited May 28, 2022 by Essan

[lightly]

On 5/28/2022 at 7:39 AM, ouija ouija said:

I think seemingly limitless imagination is what sets us apart, but then that begs the question 'what is imagination'?

       Visualization? The ability to see images in our minds?   ..anything imaginable !?  Some people can do complex math in their minds… or invent things.   i can create Songs .. (sort of sound images) 

[Abramelin]

22 hours ago, Essan said:

Who says we're smarter?

"....man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons."

DNA

Brilliant.

[Abramelin]

On 5/28/2022 at 2:30 PM, L.A.T.1961 said:

Did the human brain reach a singularity point as size increased?

More and higher quality data and the need to cross process this data created an exponential increase in the brains ability. ? 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-human-brain-has-been-getting-smaller-since-the-stone-age

We have 'domesticated' ourselves.

[L.A.T.1961]

On 5/29/2022 at 2:19 PM, Abramelin said:

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-human-brain-has-been-getting-smaller-since-the-stone-age

We have 'domesticated' ourselves.

Or just women  although evidence points to the contrary, so I am saying nothing.   

"a 1988 Human Biology paper analyzed more than 12,000 Homo sapiens crania from Europe and North African. It showed cranial capacity decreased in the past 10,000 years by about 10 percent (157 mL) in males and 17 percent (261 mL) in females. A similar reduction was found among skulls from elsewhere on the planet, including sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Australia."

[Jon the frog]

On 5/28/2022 at 7:39 AM, ouija ouija said:

I think seemingly limitless imagination is what sets us apart, but then that begs the question 'what is imagination'?

A big part of imagination and intelligence is having time to spend elsewhere than on our own survival. The tendency to fill that time with nonsense and futile occupations burn that imagination down tho. With the lack of natural selection adding to this tendency will bring us back to a jelly like exitence. But we still have hope:

Edited May 31, 2022 by Jon the frog

[+Desertrat56]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:30 AM, L.A.T.1961 said:

Did the human brain reach a singularity point as size increased?

More and higher quality data and the need to cross process this data created an exponential increase in the brains ability. ? 

I wish people would quit using the word "singularity" without defining what they mean.  Using it in this context is meaningless.

[jethrofloyd]

Because of we are a curious species, and we always want to explore new areas.

 

[DreadLordAvatar]

Humans were engineered by our ancient creators from Zeta Reticuli star system. The Pleiadians.  Duh.

[L.A.T.1961]

1 hour ago, Desertrat56 said:

I wish people would quit using the word "singularity" without defining what they mean.  Using it in this context is meaningless.

I was using the term in the same way it is used to describe a technological singularity.

"The technological singularity—or simply the singularity^[1]—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization.^[2][3] According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, called intelligence explosion, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an "explosion" in intelligence"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

 

[+Desertrat56]

8 minutes ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

I was using the term in the same way it is used to describe a technological singularity.

"The technological singularity—or simply the singularity^[1]—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization.^[2][3] According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, called intelligence explosion, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an "explosion" in intelligence"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

 

Well, the first time I ever heard of a singularity, it was in reference to the big bang.   I have heard this usage but it never made any sense because  everyone assumes we are all on the same page.   For me it is annoying that people use scientific and mathmatical words that actually have a definition and then change it to mean something else.   As for technological singularity, that is just from someone's imagination using a term that might fit his description of that most closely without making up a new word.   So people will supposedly download their consciousness into machines in order to better manipulate their environment and become immortal.   That is the context I have heard your technological singularity being used.   It is based on the misunderstanding of what consciousness is and where it resides.   If we were totally physical beings having experiences caused soley by chemicals and electrical impulses in our brains maybe it is a plausible hypothetical scenario, but even so, it is far fetched.

We are already getting less intelligent and less imaginitive because of dependence on machines and technology.   

Edited May 31, 2022 by Desertrat56

[pallidin]

One thing I love about this site is how dang interesting all of you are.

If I may add, the article actually has the answer in the very first statement: cognition.

However, what seems to separate us apart from other animals is our very sophisticated level of "interpretation"...Unmatched.

[Gumball]

Greed and the cunning to enable us to continue to operate in such a fashion.