Chapter 1 - Origins of Thought Flashcards
Aristotle
what did they study?
Year?
Mentalism: hylomorphism: the soul is the main entity
300B.C
Andreas Vesalius
what did they study?
Year?
Studied human anatomy (nervous system). familar with brain anatomy. brain was the seed of our understanding
- More evidence-based
1500s
René Descartes
what did they study?
Year?
Dualism:
-brain = basic behaviours (moving, smelling)
- mind = higher though and understanding
1600s
Charles Darwin
and Alfred Russel Wallace
what did they study?
Year?
Materialism: can be explained by science.
- Promoted idea of natural selection
1800s - 1900s
Evidence for species evolution
- fossil records show change in hominid skull
- similar arm bone structure (bat/human)
- selective breeding dogs and plants
- Galapagos islands drought beak size changed in 18 months
Gregor Mendel
- Experiments involving crossbreeding of plants
- coined recessive and Dom traits
– Same time period as Darwin
Baldwin Effect
knowing how to use tools (engraved in genes)
ex: birds when born, know how to use sticks to open nuts instinctivly
How long ago?
First Brain Cell: ___mya
First Brain: ___ mya
First Primate Brain: __ mya
First Brain Cell: 700 mya
First Brain: 250 mya
First Primate Brain: 7 mya
Simple nervous system (2)
Nerve net:
only has reflexive motor responses and no central brain (jellyfish)
Ganglia:
a bit more complex than nerve net
- Ganglia allow this simple cognition
Chordate Nervous System
- true brain
- true spinal cord
- bilateral symmetry
- crossed organization of brain hemispheres
humans, birds, frog, fish
Australopithecus
our distant acestor. we watched a video on how they became bipedalist and used tools
Homo habilis
‘handy human’
used tools
homo erectus
‘upright human’
bipedal
-migrated beyond Africa
-more sophisticated tools
Neanderthals
- europe and asia
- ancient DNA shows interbreeding with modern humans
- had the FOXP2 gene
FOXP2 gene
gene that expresses speech, verbal communication, syllables, sounds
homo sapiens
‘us’
appeared in the last 250k years
What is the correlation with hominid brain size and evolving?
as the brain size increased, tool-making and speech increased
H. erectus - 1200 cm2
H. neaderthalensis - 1400 cm2
H. sapiens - 1300 cm2
Wallace’s Conundrum
how can Darwins theory of natural selection be the only reason for the complex human mind
what about, “cultural transmission or learned behaviours”?
