On Sat, 12 Aug 2000, Steve Talbot wrote:

> So the brain is basically brilliant at 1) association & 2) pattern
> recognition and poor at 3) verbal reasoning and processes that usually rely
> on this part of the brain which include reading, writing & mathematics.
>
> Paleo folks will therefore note that 1 & 2 relate heavily to out Paleolithic
> period whilst our own (imposed) 3) language based processes, such as the
> multiplication tables relate to a much more recent period.
>
> The comparison may strengthen the argument for Paleo.

But we have no solid information about when language and verbal
reasoning got started.  Some argue that they were essential to
the transition to a hunting way of life, in which case they might
be pretty early paleo.  The argument is that unlike other
hunters, humans use deductive reasoning to track prey, and
deductive reasoning is language-dependent to some extent.  In
fact, this link of think links hunting, tracking and storytelling
as aspects of this human penchant for creating mental
representations of events arranged in time (I.e., These animal
tracks crossed over those animal tracks, so this animal was here
before that one).

Todd Moody
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