Could a caveman do calculus?
Historically, of course, the answer is no. But I’m not asking that. I’m asking, could a caveman do calculus? If I went back in time 50,000 years, kidnapped one of my ancestors, worked out their language and taught them the rules of complex modern mathematics, could they understand it?
The answer has to be yes. We are the products of natural selection, but 50,000 years is nothing on an evolutionary timescale, meaning that caveman’s brain would be virtually identical to mine. (Granted, I can’t do calculus either, but that’s only from want of trying.)
If our cognitive makeup has not changed since that time period, then why did it take us so long to kickstart the scientific revolution? Since that revolution, our knowledge and technology have both progressed exponentially, in a fashion previously unheard of.
What changed? And what is scientific knowledge, anyway? Today I’m joined by David Deutsch, Oxford physicist and “father of quantum computing”, to try and find out.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Are Humans More Intelligent Now Than in the Past?
09:33 – The Acceleration of Exponential Growth
21:02 – When was ‘The Enlightenment’ and How Did it Happen?
38:03 – Did Seeking Explanations Define ‘The Enlightenment?’
44:10 – The Transmission and Critique of Knowledge
58:17 – What is the Difference Between Knowledge and Belief?
01:22:57 – Is Science Prediction or Explanation?
