What are the limits to the size of biological brains?

[Sveinung W. Tengelsen]

In article <6v7tt0$v6s$1 at nnrp1.dejanews.com>, <URL:mailto:cyrano at twics.com>
wrote:
> I think one important thing to study,in order to make sound scientific
> research concerning exobiology,is to work on the physical limits of
> biological brains.

H‘m...

> To me,as a biologist,I think that no basic biological law forbids higher
> forms of intelligences,adept at neuromorphogenetics,to create brains with
> a size situated between 1 and 10 metres...provided that these brains are
> created and maintained in nearly zero gravity or on asteroids. 
> Asteroids seem to me an ideal place to establish such gigantic brains!

Is‘t this a bit like having a shovel and imagining that in the future, there
will be truly *huge* shovels around? Not being able to imagine excavators?

> Certainly such "big brains" should already exist in some places of the
> Cosmos.

The first thing such intelligence will do is taking steps towards discarding
vulnerable and evanescent biology.

> What they would be able to think and process would just be impossible for
> us to guess,as the level of consciousness between such a big brain of,let
> say 10 metres in diametre,and our brain,would be something on the order of
> magnitude of ants versus homo sapiens!

I'm a complete amateur/layman in this field, but I believe neurologists will
tell you that the relationship between brainsize/intelligence isn't linear
or absolute. AFAIK even the human brain is full of "dead meat" which has
nothing to do with our intelligence/sentience pér se.

> Concerning the flying discs we,sometimes,observe on our planet one problem
> arises:

What flying disks?

> Are the apparent ETIs(Extra-Terrestrials)we observe real ETIs
> or,perhaps,neuromodified homo sapiens?

I have this awful huch you're posting this from alt.paranet.ufo, and not
bionet.neuroscienece. You're currently sunk to your eyebrows in ironic
science.

> The basic resemblances between the "little men" and homo sapiens are
> striking.

...still sinking (anthromorphism alert!).

> As we still know nothing about exobiology and the evolution of life within
> other stellar systems,we do not know if the homo sapiens "morpha" is
> something which arises,inevitably,due to evolutionnary convergences,or is
> something due to chance.

We don't even know what the basic premises for us resulting in our current
form/structure are, do we? And anyway your hypothetical ET's should be able
to brief us on these issues (sic.)

> So we are left with 2 alternatives:that the observed ETIs are real
> ,authentic ETIs or "secondary" "ETIs" let say created by those "big
> brains" I imagine.

What observed extraterrestrial beings? Hast documentation?

> If big brains can only survive in zero gravity
> environments,smaller,secondary,ETIs might be used for them in order to move
> from one place to another one.

..."by them"?

> Well:you could also imagine some big brains directly linked to flying
> discs!!!

One could imagine all sorts of things. It's a basic human trait of mixed
blessings. Doesn't equal the results automatically being worth pursuing
intellectually. Read http://world.std.com/~mmcirvin/vitrifax.html .  

-- 
Regards,

Sveinung W. Tengelsen
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