Smart evolution.
Question: Over the past few hundred thousand years, humans have greatly increased in intelligence and in the size of their brains. As intelligence appears to produce an advantage to survival, I wonder if all animals show a tendency to evolve greater intelligence over time. Or is the value of intelligence overrated?
ANSWER: The conventional answer is actually rather dull: animals are as intelligent as they need to be and no more. This is because brains are expensive to run-your brain uses up 19 per cent of your body’s total energy consumption-so any animal with a large brain has to justify the cost. For…
