• solo@piefed.socialOP
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    1 day ago

    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.

    • jet@hackertalks.com
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      1 day 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.

      • solo@piefed.socialOP
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        1 day ago

        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.

        • jet@hackertalks.com
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          1 day ago

          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!