Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!sdcsvax!ucsd!nprdc!bickel
From: bickel@nprdc.arpa (Steven Bickel)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Thought/Emotion/Feeling
Message-ID: <1154@arctic.nprdc.arpa>
Date: 11 Dec 88 23:16:22 GMT
References: <569@epicb.UUCP> <1146@arctic.nprdc.arpa> <1152@arctic.nprdc.arpa> <496@uceng.UC.EDU>
Sender: news@nprdc.arpa
Reply-To: bickel@nprdc.arpa (Steven Bickel)
Organization: Navy Personnel R&D Center, San Diego
Lines: 34

In article <496@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@uceng.UC.EDU (daniel mocsny) writes:
>You seem to be implying that human intelligence has evolved significantly
>in the last 10 thousand years.
>
>I thought this idea had already lost its justification -- after all,
>individuals from cultures that have never had agriculture do not seem
>to show any inferiority in standard measures of ``intelligence.''
>Does anyone doubt that you could adopt a population of bush infants
>and raise them to be (on average) successful members of any
>contemporary society.

  First, forget about the words "farming" and "agriculture". Now think
  only about the cognitive processes that are needed for farming.
  These same cognitive processes are used by the bushman of the 
  Kalihari (spelling?) to collect and store water. These types
  of processes have evolved significantly only in the last 10,000
  years, and, have coincided with the development of language, which,
  almost all primitive tribes have, and, therefore fit into the
  farming period concept (last 10,000 years).  I should have used 
  the concept of farming consciousness with more explanation.

  Good Reading :-)

  J. Jaynes, The origin of consciousness and the breakdown of the 
  bicameral mind. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976.

  J. Campbell. The masks of god. New York: Viking. vol 1, 1959.

  G. Leonard, The Transformation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

  K. Wilbur, Up From Eden, New Science Library, 1981.

_____________
Steve Bickel