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anspecieshaveextraordinarilylargebrainscomparedtootheranimals.Mammalsweighingsixtykilogramshavean
ebrainsizeof200cubiccentimetres.Theearliestmenandwomen,2.5millionyearsago,hadbrainsofabout600
entimetres.Membersofthemodernhumanspecies,Homosapiens,sportabrainaveraging1,2001,400
entimetres.Neanderthalbrainswereevenbigger.

olutionshouldselectforlargerbrainsmayseemtouslike,well,anobrainer.Wearesoenamouredofourhigh
encethatweassumethatwhenitcomestocerebralpower,moremustbebetter.Butifthatwerethecase,thefelinefamily
alsohaveproducedcatswhocoulddocalculus.WhyisgenusHomotheonlyoneintheentireanimalkingdomtohave
pwithsuchmassivethinkingmachines?

tisthatajumbobrainisajumbodrainonthebody.Itsnoteasytocarryaround,especiallywhenencasedinsidea
eskull.Itsevenhardertofuel.InHomosapiens,thebrainaccountsforabout23percentoftotalbodyweight,butit
mes25percentofthebodysenergywhenthebodyisatrest.Bycomparison,thebrainsofotherapesrequireonly8per
resttimeenergy.Archaichumanspaidfortheirlargebrainsintwoways.Firstly,theyspentmoretimeinsearchoffood.
ly,theirmusclesatrophied.Likeagovernmentdivertingmoneyfromdefencetoeducation,humansdivertedenergyfrom
oneurons.Itshardlyaforegoneconclusionthatthisisagoodstrategyforsurvivalonthesavannah.Achimpanzeecant
argumentwithaHomosapiens,buttheapecanripthemanapartlikearagdoll.

urbigbrainspayoffnicely,becausewecanproducecarsandgunsthatenableustomovemuchfasterthanchimps,and
hemfromasafedistanceinsteadofwrestling.Butcarsandgunsarearecentphenomenon.Formorethan2millionyears,
neuralnetworkskeptgrowingandgrowing,butapartfromsomeflintknivesandpointedsticks,humanshadpreciouslittle
forit.Whatthendroveforwardtheevolutionofthemassivehumanbrainduringthose2millionyears?Frankly,wedont

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theauthorsreferencetocatswhocoulddocalculusmeanttoimply?

kelythatthefelinefamilywillproducelargerbrainedmembersinthefuture.

urprisingthatthefelinefamilyhasntevolvedbiggerbrains,consideringtheirhighintelligence.

intelligenceisnotnecessarilybeneficialorelseotheranimalswouldhaveevolvedittoo.

ingtheauthorismerelymakingasarcasticortongueincheekremark.

othesecondparagraph,wherethereferencetocatswhocoulddocalculusoccurs.Theauthormentionsthefelinefamily
s)asanexampleofagroupofanimalsthathasntevolvedlargebrainswhichwouldleadtogreaterintelligence,
ngtheabilitytodocalculus.Thus[2]isamisunderstandingofthepassage.Secondly,itisnotanimplication.[1]isincorrect
astheauthormakesnosuchprediction.Inthecontextofthepassage,theimplicationofthequoteisthathighintelligence
otnecessarilyprovideanevolutionarybenefittoanimals,orelsewewouldseeotheranimalsforexample,cats
ghigherintelligencetoo.Thus,[3]isthepointtheauthoristryingtomake.[4]canberuledout,asthequotedoeshavea
arimplication.Hence,[3].

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