[extropy-chat] The evolution of intelligence (3)

[Colin Geoffrey Hales]

> At 10:44 PM 11/9/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>>I'm trying to understand what the evolution of intelligence might
>>have been, and am in search of pointers to background sources. This
>>seemed like a logical place to ask, given our shared interests.
>>
>>In some cognitive models, there's the idea of distinct capabilities,
>>each having a biological basis. Each of which presumably conferred a
>>reproductive advantage, in its first through its final forms,
>>although it may not be clear that that advantage is wholly
>>independent of the pre-existence of another of the capabilities.
>

One very recent book by

Derek Denton
"The Primordial emotions: The Dawning of Consciousness"

This is an empirical science outcome (Derek is a physiologist, and expert
in blood salt/thirst). It traces the origins of subjective experiences to
the highly conserved brain basal region in the form of the 'primordial
emotions'. These emotions are the darwinian 'essentials' - the subjective
experience of thirst, breathlessness, hunger, sexual appetite and others.
The drive (he calls 'imperious') provided by the emotions results in a
survival benefit.

ie. you don't need a cortex to have experiences. You merely need a small
(maybe 1 cell) cohort of cells 'doing the experience dance'. The
implications are that all vertebrates (including reptiles) can have
experiences and needed to in order that they survive.

Derek is very old-school...he's 83! and has a blizzard of letters after
his name....It's a good read.

Enjoy.

Colin Hales