Human Brain Size Ranks Exceptional
Our brain size relative to body size
is unique in the animal kingdom,
a new study finds
Biblical creationists are not surprised to learn that human brains are exceptionally large, given that mankind was given a special role in creation as steward over the other creatures. Possessing the image of God, and equipped for language, upright walking, reason, art, music, leadership, and complex relationships, it makes sense to be endowed with the physical means to perform these exceptional human capabilities. It makes no sense to evolutionists, who see man as evolved animals that gradually evolved from apes. A new study confounds them even more.
Brain size riddle solved as humans exceed evolution trend (University of Reading, 11 July 2024). It should be noted that brain volume is not everything; the density and complexity of a brain’s network of neurons certainly require understanding. But evolutionists have puzzled over body size compared to brain size for a long time, and just got more puzzled, even though the headline says “brain size riddle solved.” Read on—
The largest animals do not have proportionally bigger brains – with humans bucking this trend – a new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution has revealed.
Researchers at the University of Reading and Durham University collected an enormous dataset of brain and body sizes from around 1,500 species to clarify centuries of controversy surrounding brain size evolution.
Bigger brains relative to body size are linked to intelligence, sociality, and behavioural complexity – with humans having evolved exceptionally large brains. The new research, published today (Monday, 8 July), reveals the largest animals do not have proportionally bigger brains, challenging long-held beliefs about brain evolution.
Perhaps their degree of controversy, challenge and puzzlement came from assuming brains evolved. Brains are so far, far above nonliving matter in terms of complex organization, that to believe they evolved is more absurd than thinking a Ferrari emerged from a sand dune. The human brain has been called the most complex organization of matter in the universe. And yet it only weighs about three pounds, fits in a specialized container called a skull, and develops from a single cell—the zygote. And as the late A.E. Wilder-Smith would say, “It runs on potatoes!” How can anyone in academia believe the Darwinian account?
The researchers say that humans “bucked the trend” of brain evolution. But is there really a trend at all? Why not assume, rather, that each animal was endowed with the size and type of hardware and software it needed for its life?
Among these outliers includes our own species, Homo sapiens, which has evolved more than 20 times faster than all other mammal species, resulting in the massive brains that characterise humanity today. But humans are not the only species to buck this trend.
All groups of mammals demonstrated rapid bursts of change – both towards smaller and larger brain sizes. For example, bats very rapidly reduced their brain size when they first arose, but then showed very slow rates of change in relative brain size, suggesting there may be evolutionary constraints related to the demands of flight.
The evolutionists at Reading mention a rule—the “Marsh-Lartet rule”—that assumed brains evolve larger over time. That evolutionary “rule” is now debunked. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they don’t. The results remain puzzling:
“Our results reveal a mystery. In the largest animals, there is something preventing brains from getting too big. Whether this is because big brains beyond a certain size are simply too costly to maintain remains to be seen. But as we also observe similar curvature in birds, the pattern seems to be a general phenomenon – what causes this ‘curious ceiling’ applies to animals with very different biology.”
As usual with evolutionary explanations, the results don’t fit expectations (vaporware), and more work is needed (futureware). Meanwhile, keep the funding money flowing!
An earlier paper in Nature was not much help, either.
A molecular and cellular perspective on human brain evolution and tempo (Lindhout et al., Nature, 19 June 2024). Notice the materialist and Darwinist assumptions in the title: molecules evolve into brains at a measurable tempo. But the U Reading study (above) said that human brains ‘evolved’ 20 times faster than all other mammal species. Watch these four authors assume evolution from the first sentence.
The evolution of the modern human brain was accompanied by distinct molecular and cellular specializations, which underpin our diverse cognitive abilities but also increase our susceptibility to neurological diseases. These features, some specific to humans and others shared with related species, manifest during different stages of brain development.
So where did these features come from? They evolved. They emerged by blind, unguided processes that “gave rise to” our remarkable equipment. It sounds so simple: “neural stem cells proliferate to produce a large and diverse progenitor pool, giving rise to excitatory or inhibitory neurons that integrate into circuits during further maturation.” It’s like pieces of metal and glass and fabric “giving rise to” a Ferrari. No engineer required. (See 22 Aug 2023, where “give rise to” is a phrase evolutionists use like a magic wand.)
Maybe inventing some new Jargonwocky words will help conjure up the coveted ‘understanding’ that Darwin promised his disciples.
Here we introduce the terms ‘bradychrony’ and ‘tachycrony’ to describe slowed and accelerated developmental tempos, respectively. We review how recent technical advances across disciplines, including advanced engineering of in vitro models, functional comparative genetics and high-throughput single-cell profiling, are leading to a deeper understanding of how specializations of the human brain arise during bradychronic neurodevelopment.
Evolution is fast except when it is slow. The insights keep coming!
Emerging insights point to a central role for genetics, gene-regulatory networks, cellular innovations and developmental tempo, which together contribute to the establishment of human specializations during various stages of neurodevelopment and at different points in evolution.
Embryologists can observe specializations arising during development according to the genetic program that produces them. But can ‘innovations’ and ‘specializations’ emerge by Darwinian evolution, the Stuff Happens Law? The statement reeks of special pleading, question begging, and association fallacies. Embryonic development and Darwinism are two very different things!
How much understanding did Darwin give you today? Rapid bursts—slow and fast tempos—mindless processes that “gave rise to” human minds? Come on. My dad used to quote a black pastor who said, “Use your brain; that’s what it was given to you for.” Mind matters. Brains are not evolved pieces of meat. They are divine gifts. They are functional supercomputers God gave us to use for his glory.
For relief from Darwin headaches, we encourage you to sing! Sing along with Eric Hedin, who wrote at Evolution News, “Singing – A Remarkable Gift, by Design.” Singing is a gift that the “Evolutionary Model Can’t Account for,” Hedin explained in his earlier post. Be sure to sing praises to our great Creator who gave us our exceptional brains. Go to church and sing some of the great creation hymns, like All Creatures of Our God and King, Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee, I Sing the Mighty Power of God, and How Great Thou Art.
Don’t sing dirges like this one. It will only lead to depression.
Godless philosophy, pointless for me;
None to cause us, but cosmos,
All that is, was, or ever shall be.
From the big bang, to the slime soup,
To the heat death, dark and old:
Godless philosophy, it leaves me cold;
Godless philosophy, it leaves me cold.