Ratio of spinal cord to brain

[Guest guest]

Yes, this brain size equals intelligence has no particular basis in

sastra. If it did, then we would have to say that any elephant is more

intelligent than any sadhu -- also any whale for that matter. Even a cow

or a horse would be more intelligent than a human. This also does not

correspond with our experience.

 

I remember reading many years ago some research (John Lilly?) which found

evidence that intelligence better corresponded to the ratio of the weight

of the brain to the weight of the spinal cord. I'm not sure what happened

to that line of research, but at least it explained why humans might be

more intelligent than cows.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

 

On Sat, 12 Dec 1998, COM: Madhusudani Radha (dd) JPS (Mill Valley - USA) wrote:

 

> [Text 1931576 from COM]

>

> At 23:26 -0800 12/12/98, COM: Prsnigarbha (das) HKS (Goteborg - S) wrote:

> >

> >Average human brain weight is around 3 pounds. I don't know how that

> >translates to ounces.

> >

> >So if women are to be less intelligent, please come with some better

> >arguments than brain weight, thank you.

>

> Thank you for your research and presentation, Prsnigarbha prabhu. A

> similar conclusion was reached earlier this year on the VAST conference.

> Some ISKCON scholars noted there that Srila Prabhupada's famous statement

> about the relative weight of male and female brains was not based on

> sastra, but rather on information he had received from one of his

> professors when he attended university in Calcutta early this century. The

> information provided by his professor corresponded to where brain science

> was at the time, but as we all know, new diagnostic procedures have lead to

> new scientific discoveries at a rapid pace. Given the availability of

> diagnostic procedures such as CT scans and MRIs, this has certainly been

> the case in terms of the study of the brain. That should be OK, since Srila

> Prabhupada did not quote any absolute truth found in sastra in this matter.

>

> Ys,

> Madhusudani dasi

>

>

>