ASCENT OF INTELLIGENCE Language & Brain-size 3 Robin Allott

Part of the explanation for the rapid growth in the size of the human brain is to be found in terms of the Baldwin effect through which culture and evolution interact. In its original formulation in the 19th century, Baldwin argued that by changing the physical environment animals such as beavers and, of course also humans, changed the conditions for survival in succeeding generations and so the operation of natural selection. It is now clear that not only physical changes in the environment but also cultural changes, both in social organisation and in language, would manifest the Baldwin effect.

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[TruthBeyond]

I've read somewhere that our primate ancester's brains were more like about 400cc , and are now near 1600cc (there's some sexual diamorphism, with females typically having a smaller brain size, but not necessarily less functional one).