USC Social Psychology (MWF 1:30-2:30 class)

[nika_rianix]

This is the question: what is the purpose of the brain according to evoutionary psychoogy?

Evolutionary Psychologists operate within the framework of 5 principles that are rooted in the biological nature of the mind.

principle 1 - The brain is a physical system functioning as a computer and has circuits
designed to generate behavior appropriate to environmental circumstances.
Principle 2 - Neural circuits were designedby natural selection to solve problems that
ancestors faced during the species' evolutionary history.
Principle 3 - Most of what goes on in the mindis hidden; thus, most problems that seem easyto solve are actually very difficult to solve --they require very complicated circuitry.
Principle 4 - Different neural circuits arespecialized for solving different adaptive
problems.
Principle 5 - Modern skulls house stone age minds.


Perhaps the most powerful of these principles is the understanding that the modern brain case houses a stone age mind. In other words, our mind's circuitry is really designed to deal with the type of day-to-day problems posed to our ancestors, 99% of whom existed as part of the hunter/gatherer cultures; not to solve the types of problems that are posed to the modern American or westerner.Leaders in the field of Evolutionary Psychology, Professors Leda Cosmides and John Tooby at the University of Santa Barbara state in their essay "The Modular Nature of Human Intelligence" that "understanding that human instincts or cognitive programs evolved to solve the adaptive problems faced by our ancestors makes understanding the ancestral world important. . . each of our ancestors was, in effect, on a camping trip that lasted an entire lifetime, and the world of our foraging ancestors endured for millions of years."



source: Brain Channels - A Rising Star: Evolutionary Psychology
The human brain is a set of computational machines, each of which was designed by natural selection to solve adaptive problems faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. These machines are adaptive specializations: systems equipped with design features that are organized such that they solve an ancestral problem reliably, economically and efficiently. The search for functionally specialized computational adaptations has now begun in earnest. A host of specialized systems have recently been found, including ones designed for sexual motivation, social inference, judgment under uncertainty and conditioning, as well as content-rich systems for visual recognition and knowledge acquisition.


by: nika armilla

[annaktyl]

sir naa pkoy mga g answeran nha nga la nmo ma check naa sa page 26 and 29..

please kog check sir.,

hehe..

[regnauld]

NOTE: Please always remind me to read and check your answers for those who were not able to receive some points!

[jasminesebache]

sir, naa kuy concern na i.raise. . ,
apil ku sa top20 students na nkasud ug una but wala lage nimu g.acknowledge aku points . . huhuu. .
proof sir . ., naa pa man gani ku sa page 2. . kuyog mi danielle arellano. . sir tagda ku. . hehehe

[regnauld]

sir naa pkoy mga g answeran nha nga la nmo ma check naa sa page 26 and 29..

please kog check sir.,

hehe..

Ok i will check it!

[josheene_cavero]

Its ok! Just compensate it fast and strong as the Evolutionists would say "only the fastest and strongest and who can adapt quickly will survive. "

ok sir...akong mga gi post naa sa 26-29..thnx sir...

[regnauld]

sir ako lng i.clarify..."unsa ako na kat.onan sa akong kaugalingon in relation sa topic? sakto ba sir?

TUMPAK!

[jasminesebache]

NOTE: Please always remind me to read and check your answers for those who were not able to receive some points!

imu first ques na aku g.anseran kay wala pa nimu g.check. . hehee!

[glazzer91]

So, far let me stop on asking questions. Let's discuss further about evolution particularly the evolution of thought and behavior!

How many of you have read the book "The Phenomenon of Man" by: Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin? A Jesuit priest and Paleontologist.

The Phenomenon of Man is Pere Teilhard's most important book and contains the quintessence of his thought. Its subject could be described as the surging evolution of the world from the primal stuff of the universe, through life, to consciousness and man. Teilhard's primary book, The Phenomenon of Man, set forth a sweeping account of the unfolding of the cosmos. He abandoned traditional interpretations of creation in the Book of Genesis in favor of a less strict interpretation.

The Phenomenon Of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin : Arthur's Classic Novels

[regnauld]

ganahan ko mo answer sa question nga "do you believe that we came from apes? (wla nko kbw asa ang original msg. ni sir) hahhaa

here:Charles Darwin’s theories on human evolution upended the scientific community in the middle of the 19th century. He theorized that humans were derived from apes. He proposed that small genetic mutations over millions of years created the human species we have today. Darwin felt that it was a “survival of the fittest”. Species that could adapt to their changing environment most effectively would survive, while the weaker genetic lines of species died off.

however, I doubt sir darwin's theory, though many similarities may be cited between living apes and humans, the only historical evidence that could support the ape ancestry of man must come from fossils. Unfortunately, the fossil record of man and apes is very sparse. Approximately 95% of all known fossils are marine invertebrates, about 4.7% are algae and plants, about 0.2% are insects and other invertebrates and only about 0.1% are vertebrates (animals with bones). Finally, only the smallest imaginable fraction of vertebrate fossils consists of primates (humans, apes, monkeys and lemurs).

Because of the rarity of fossil hominids, even many of those who specialize in the evolution of man have never actually seen an original hominid fossil, and far fewer have ever had the opportunity to handle or study one. Most scientific papers on human evolution are based on casts of original specimens (or even on published photos, measurements and descriptions of them). Access to original fossil hominids is strictly limited by those who discovered them and is often confined to a few favored evolutionists who agree with the discoverers’ interpretation of the fossil.

Since there is much more prestige in finding an ancestor of man than an ancestor of living apes (or worse yet, merely an extinct ape), there is immense pressure on paleoanthropologists to declare almost any ape fossil to be a “hominid.” As a result, the living apes have pretty much been left to find their own ancestors.

Many students in our schools are taught human evolution (often in the social studies class!) by teachers having little knowledge of human anatomy, to say nothing of ape anatomy. But it is useless to consider the fossil evidence for the evolution of man from apes without first understanding the basic anatomical and functional differences between human and ape skeletons.



Did humans really evolve from ape-like creatures? - Answers in Genesis
Darwin's Theory of Evolution: Did Man Really Evolve from Apes

Nice answer! 15 points for you!