Why we are not born at once intelligent and independent

Looking today at the achievements of people, it is impossible not to admire. We are the only species that writes books, conducts scientific experiments and builds skyscrapers. And mental abilities came in handy to us still in the process of our evolution - for example, helping to hunt better and not become someone else's prey.

More importantly, the growing intelligence allowed the ancient people to compete with each other. More intelligent individuals always seem to others attractiveEasier for them to manage to get the highest status within the complex social groups. To keep up with the others, it had become reasonable - a race of intellectual weapons. And the easiest way in this case - biggerEvolution of the human brain: when bigger is better brain.

But with the increase of the human brain volume in women have grown and the size of the pelvis, because they now have to bear big-children.

All anything, but at the same time flowed another evolutionary process - the development of bipedal locomotion. The reasons for which he was summoned, many argue

ORIGINS OF BIPEDALISM. But it is absolutely clear that bipedalism basin should be less. And it turns out, a person is affected by two opposing factors of evolutionary selection.

As a result, established a delicate balance in which the size of the pelvis allows women to walk and run on two legs, and at the same time give birth to children with a fairly large head. But the price of this balance - safety. Childbearing is much more dangerous to humans than any other species of primates - are still a lot of women dieMaternal mortality during childbirth.

Such deadlocks often lead to a "creative" solutions. As a result, the baby's skull is designed so that the bones can move slightly during the birth and growthThe Basics of Brain Development brain and pelvis mother during childbirth temporarily diverge. But the main trick is, how the brain is arranged.

People learn and develop the skills necessary for survival, but do not get them from birth.

The chicks begin to move and look for food in a few minutes after hatching, foals within a few hours after birth can run. The human children to gain independence It takes years. Traditionally, parents actively take care of the child until the age of puberty, and now even longer, often until the end of the son or daughter of the University.

This is partly explained by the fact that our brain is fully developed only in the adultAdolescent Maturity and the Brain age. We are born knowing almost nothing, but with an amazing ability to learn. And once a person becomes wise after the birth, during birth the brain may be small. This was the way out of the above-described difficulties with the size of the pelvis.

Paradoxically, the inability to take care of yourself as a child was the key to the genius of our species.

Thanks to her, we are able to adapt to almost everything, with what face in life. For example, children are born in a completely different natural environments - from hot deserts to the Arctic - and adapt to their environment. If we were born were more developed, our habitat would have been significantly restricted. And without a long period, until we learn and develop, we would have been impossible amazing human invention.

If our ancestors continued to move on all fours, would not be necessary There is another hypothesis, which explains why a person immature offspring. According to her, delivery begins not when the child reaches a critical size of the brain, which allows to go through mother's birth canal - and then, when the mother's body can no longer provide the metabolic needs of the fetus. The author of this theory - Dansvort Holly (Holly Dunsworth, Metabolic hypothesis for human altriciality). change the size of the female pelvis. So, nothing would restrict the volume of the brain in the newborn. As a result, our intellect would be more than sharpened by a particular environment and less movable. And we would not be who we are now.