人脑智能的进化过程研究--仍然是一团迷雾

Book:
The Evolution of Intelligent Systems – How Molecules Became Minds, by Ken Richardson, 2010, Palgrave Macmillan

现在脑科学研究的现状还远远不能解开人脑的奥秘。各个研究学派的理论不仅不能相互兼容统一，而且都没有足够深入到人脑细节中。

Many people interested in the nature and origins of the human mind complain about the lack of coherence and depth in existing scientific accounts. They say that the area lacks a meaningful framework through which they can relate the various models, theories and opinions being expressed within it; and it lacks ‘roots’ in the way that evolutionary theory gives ‘history’, coherence and grounding to all of biology. It is a truism spoken by many that if we want to truly understand functions of living things – including mental systems – then we really need to be clear about why they evolved. Sadly, recent attempts to incorporate psychology within the classical evolutionary framework, far from yielding fresh insights, seem to have generated even more division and controversy. In consequence, there are still crucial gaps in our understanding of human minds and human nature, and about their continuity with the rest of life. This creates many problems for scientists, and increasing public scepticism about scientific accounts of what we’ve actually got in our heads and how it works.