Human Intelligence

Ok, hopefully this is in-line to what I think the question was pertaining to. I personally like the theory that human intelligence (I wonder if there is such a thing sometimes?) came about because of climatic change. That these selective pressures throughout our past forced us into being generalists. The route we took in our evolution as generalists was toward a larger brain. This larger brain allowing us to adapt to changing environments and take advantage of various niches. The fact that we have such a large control over our environment is just a by product of this evolution. That our social constructions have allowed us to create large relatively stable social groups that have increased our reproductive fitness. Elizabeth Vrba and Rick Potts are two anthropologists that come to my mind who describe something along these lines. If you get a chance read: Humanity's Descent: The consequence of Ecological Instability. by Rick Potts. 1996. Avon Books.ps. haven't checked it out yet but i just noticed that they have a website listed on the copyright page. AvonBooks.comI appologise beforehand if this wasn't comprhensive enough. Quick answers aren't always the best.

I am curious what you are terming as "instinct"? Would you be refering to an innate behavior? I just wish to clarify your position on what you consider to be "instinct".God at no time gave humans any "instinct"? So, to be clear, are you saying that god gave us a living spirit, which included the ability to reason and be rational, et cetera, but he gave animals "instinct". So the reason a dog or cat or whatever cute animal, when placed on a large pane of glass covering a drop off, scrambles to a more secure and less transparant platform is because of the instinct that god gave them?