1327 Shrunken Brain

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie from the fifties.
Our brains are shrinking!
It’s true. Over the last few thousand years the average size of human brains has been getting smaller. Scientists have many theories why.
Like they were too big to start with and now they’re just paring down. Kind of like the move-down real estate market. The kids are gone, time to scale down to an efficiency.
Another theory is we’re becoming dumber. With new technologies as crutches, we no longer have to carry around the whole of math, literature, and science in our heads.
I don’t know. It’s not like there was a lot of advanced calculus laying around 10,000 years ago. It’s nice having the interweb for research purposes, but I don’t think I lose a lot of gray matter Googling a recipe for grilled eggplant.
The theory I like best is that we are now tame. Seems the other creatures that have lost brain mass with the advent of civilization are domestic animals. Cows, sheep, horses, all have 10 to 15% smaller brains than their wild counterparts. Scientists tell us larger brains are better for the vicious vicissitudes of survival in the wild.
Larger brains have flashes of insight. But smaller brains work just fine using tools. For example, smaller-brained dogs are really good at using their tools, humans, to get things for them. Like food.
Wolves just bite off our hands.
The “tame humans” theory says the cause for smaller brains is that our societies have selected against aggression. The smaller types banded together and ostracized or criminalized the big-brained big guys.
And we went from being hungry like a wolf to living the life of a lapdog. Who needs brains?
That’s what smartphones are for...
America, ya gotta love it.