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A review by professor_x
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan
3.0
Have you ever wondered how the brain works and how our intelligence evolved? If your brain has presented to you this question, then this might just be the book for you. Your brain wants to know about itself! Whoa.
Firstly, this book was written in the 70's so its possible that some of the information contained here is out of date. Regardless of that fact however, Carl Sagan has that certain charm and special way of writing about subjects and makes it a joy to read. Although he does warn you that Chapter 2 gets super technical and jargon-heavy, the rest of the book is smooth sailing.
Sagan writes about the triune brain model and how the brain has evolved into 3 layers; the R-Complex which is where our reptilian brain functions stem from (aggression and territorial behavior) and is the oldest part of the brain, the Limbic System (social emotions) and the Neocortex (sight, sound, knowledge absorption). He also speaks about the left and right hemispheres and how they interact with one another to absorb knowledge and to be able to come up with solutions and theories.
There is information contained within these pages about our early ancestors like Australopithecus, Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis and show how the different sizes of the fossilized skulls show the progression of the size of the brain. Sleep and dreams are also talked about as well as how our distant cousins, the apes, can learn ASL and show some form on intelligence. It begs the question; If other mammals on this planet exhibit a form of intelligence, why don't we take better care of them and instead lock them up in zoos?
The book was a bit hard to get into but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sagan asks more questions than he gives answers so it turned out to be a great exercise for my brain (maybe that's what my brain wanted all along!) If you want to think critically and expand your horizons a bit, give this gem a shot!
Firstly, this book was written in the 70's so its possible that some of the information contained here is out of date. Regardless of that fact however, Carl Sagan has that certain charm and special way of writing about subjects and makes it a joy to read. Although he does warn you that Chapter 2 gets super technical and jargon-heavy, the rest of the book is smooth sailing.
Sagan writes about the triune brain model and how the brain has evolved into 3 layers; the R-Complex which is where our reptilian brain functions stem from (aggression and territorial behavior) and is the oldest part of the brain, the Limbic System (social emotions) and the Neocortex (sight, sound, knowledge absorption). He also speaks about the left and right hemispheres and how they interact with one another to absorb knowledge and to be able to come up with solutions and theories.
There is information contained within these pages about our early ancestors like Australopithecus, Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis and show how the different sizes of the fossilized skulls show the progression of the size of the brain. Sleep and dreams are also talked about as well as how our distant cousins, the apes, can learn ASL and show some form on intelligence. It begs the question; If other mammals on this planet exhibit a form of intelligence, why don't we take better care of them and instead lock them up in zoos?
The book was a bit hard to get into but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sagan asks more questions than he gives answers so it turned out to be a great exercise for my brain (maybe that's what my brain wanted all along!) If you want to think critically and expand your horizons a bit, give this gem a shot!