80
god damn austerity, we can't have shit these days, even our brains have to meet efficiency quotas and "rationalization".
Eventually rationalization will become impossible and we’ll get our big brains back. And then it’s austerity again. Ad infinitum.
Shrinkflation!
1-How do we eat ?
2-Why do we eat?
3-Where are we going for lunch ?
It's coincidental with the human adoption of farming. We changed the food source people have, and that impacted brain and body development. We absolutely see this modern day with malnutrition.
It’s coincidental with the human adoption of farming.
So far it looks like no hypothesis holds water. For example this one about farming is talking about a timeframe of 10.000 years. The shrinkage started 100.000. So there is a 90.000 years gap, that is left unexplained
via https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.742639
brain size has remained steady in H. sapiens until a rapid and dramatic change point only 3,000 years ago
and if we estimate farming was 10,000 years ago, we can't rule out one influenced the other.
Yes, DeSilva published the 2021 paper you linked. In 2022 he got criticism from Villmoare and Grabowski (see: Did the transition to complex societies in the Holocene drive a reduction in brain size? A reassessment of the DeSilva et al. (2021) hypothesis). Then in 2023 DeSilva revised his argument in (link above, in the description), extending the date back, still not giving anwers about the shrinkage observed since 100.000 years ago.
Then in 2023 DeSilva revised his argument in (link above, in the description), extending the date back, still not giving anwers about the shrinkage observed since 100.000 years ago.
yeah, from the last 3,000 to within the last 10,000 years, with the sharp decline ~5,000 years ago... which does line up with widespread adoption of agriculture still.
Of course you can choose to believe what you want.
The point I was trying to make is that there is no scientific consensus on the topic about how global the decline was, when it began and why it happened - as well as if it is related to the formation of complex societies, farming, language, dietary changes, temperature, or body size.
there is no scientific consensus on the topic
Agreed. That is why we are here speculating.
when it began and why it happened
This is what makes it a super interesting topic!
I bet it has to do with the development of spoken language. That had to have freed up some brainpower that was previously tasked with processing body language, smell, context, etc.
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2026
80 points (98.8% liked)
Today I Learned (TIL)
9283 readers
205 users here now
You learn something new every day; what did you learn today?
/c/til is a community for any true knowledge that you would like to share, regardless of topic or of source.
Share your knowledge and experience!
Rules
- Information must be true
- Follow site rules
- No, you don't have to have literally learned the fact today
- Posts must be about something you learned
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS