Cognition - the ability to detect, record, and assimilate salient features of environments - is a fundamental feature of all biological agents. It enables organisms to move from a perpetually reactive state to one that is predictive, it decreases surprise and novelty, and its products reduce the demands of physiological and psychological homeostasis. Utilizing the… Continue reading Mind Through Matter
Tag: Evolutionary Mismatch
Plastic Brains
To qualify as a licensed London taxi driver, trainees require comprehensive training and testing that typically takes three to four years. Drivers need to commit to memory and learn the mishmashed layout of approximately 25,000 streets, the location of thousands of landmarks, and the quickest way to navigate between any points in the city. In… Continue reading Plastic Brains
(Mis)matched
The 300,000 year old history of our species is one of migrations made possible by our biological and cultural adaptations. From their East African cradle, homo sapiens now occupy every longitude and latitude of the world. As a generalist species with a penchant for story-telling, socializing, teaching, learning, technology, and engineering, we have transformed our… Continue reading (Mis)matched
Sugar Daddy
Sugar has played a key role in the history of humanity since it was domesticated on the island of New Guinea approximately 10,000 years ago. The New Guineans picked the cane and ate it raw. They, like billions of people afterwards, were hooked and the sugar cane was featured prominently in their myths. Thereafter, sugar… Continue reading Sugar Daddy
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