The evolution of our brains

Some people think that human evolution has stopped and that our capacities will never change ... nothing could be more untrue, it seems that human evolution has never stopped.

An example of this are Bajau tribe, from Indonesia, who have evolved to be able to dive to great depths, holding their breath for minutes. Evolution has made them have the largest spleen and sufficient capacity to send blood to the neediest organs.

Size of brain, against all expectations, has been shrinking for thousands of years, the average size in the Mesolithic (about 12,000 years ago) was about 1560 cm3, now this size has been reduced to about 1390 cm3.

This reduction in brain size has been observed not only in Europe, but also in Africa, China and Australia. Multiple theories have been proposed to explain this brain drain: climate change, genetic drift or the emergence of agriculture, as increased food abundance would have facilitated this decline.

These theories are audacious but unconvincing. Humans tend to be higher on all continents and humans have gone through times of famine for centuries. The most certain hypothesis is domestication.

It can be seen in animals, their brains are reduced when they're domesticated, wolves have larger brains than dogs and wild horses have larger brains than their domesticated counterparts.

It seems that for thousands of years the human being has domesticated himself, the most violent and antisocial human specimens were left aside and reproduced less. This changed our appearance to one that was more gentle, childish and less aggressive, and as a result it seems that the decrease in brain size would be a result of a more social and less violent life.