Whats Sexy About a Cerebral Cortex?
Humans’ oversized brains could have evolved due to sexual selection. But what’s sexy about an enlarged cerebral cortex? Women don’t say, “Look at the cerebral cortex on that dude! I want to have his children!” Our ancestors must have instead been attracted to cerebral cortex behaviors. Our cerebral cortexes enable many behaviors, e.g., speech and language. But what’s striking about the cerebral cortex is how much of it is not dedicated to specific behaviors. The human cerebral cortex has billions of general-purpose neurons, capable of learning any new idea. Why were our ancestral mothers and fathers—unlike any other animals—sexually attracted to partners who could learn new ideas?
