Baboon Metaphysics and Others Minds both explore the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. Baboon Metaphysics compares humans with baboons (common ancestors 60 million years ago), while Other Minds compares humans with cephalopods (common ancestors 300 million years ago). The cephalopods (octopus & squid) represent convergent evolution where distantly related organisms evolve similar traits, while the baboons represent an insight into the development of language. Two books well worth reading.
“[Octopuses] are an independent experiment in the evolution of large brains and complex behavior. … This is probably the closest we will ever come to meeting an intelligent alien.” Only three groups of animals have “complex active bodies (CABs). Those groups are arthropods, vertebrates, and one group of mollusks, the cephalopods.” An octopus has as many neurons as a dog.
Baboons represent a step on the way to humans. They cannot speak and do not have a theory of mind, but they understand complex communications and societies. The book puts forth the interesting hypothesis that receiving/understanding language came before the generation of language and theory of mind.
The first step in the generation of language was a theory of mind. We had to understand that others had different information and understanding than we did (theory of mind). That led to the desire to explain and to teach, and then to deceive.
Two books on different inflection points in evolution.
Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations.
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