Previously, we examined the remarkable disparity between the intellectual capacities of human beings and primates. While our closest relatives, the chimpanzee, possesstraitsand characteristics that are particularly impressive withintheanimal kingdom, such as responding to social cues, nonverbal communication skills, and the use of various tools, the differences in intellectual capacity between humans and primates are, to say the least, profound.
Recently, a team of neuroscientists led by Rogier Mars of the University of Oxford conducted extensive studies on neural connectivity in the brains of humans and chimpanzees. An article in Science Tech Daily captures the excitement, claiming: “A groundbreaking study reveals what makes humans unique isn’t just intelligence but also emotional and social cognition. Comparing brain scans of humans and chimpanzees, researchers found key brain connections related to emotions and social interactions are distinctly human, highlighting the deep-rooted role of relationships in human evolution.” Mars and colleagues identified uniquely human connectivity profiles that were concentrated in the temporal and parietal cortices, along with uniquelyhumanorganizationinthe prefrontal cortex. By decoding what they saw on MRI imaging, Mars and the team reported observing “human-unique hotspots” that are correlatedwithlanguageprocessing and social cognition. Additionally, a considerable divergence was found between the brain scans of humans and chimpanzees in the dorsal frontal cortex, the ventral frontal cortex, and the middle temporal gyrus.Theseregionsinthebrainare most notably activated by “spatial cognition, working memory, and reasoning.” These phenomena, however, were not observed in the brains of chimpanzees.
Interestingly, the article suggests that human beings have “evolved” beyond primates, and this study helps to explain key differences in brain connectivity that “make humans unique from other primates.” Now, this statement should strike and spark most people’s curiosity, leading quiterapidlytoask,“Justhowmany primate species are there, exactly, that human beings are so unique among? Shockingly, the answer is that there are about 550 species of primatesknowntoexistintheworld. Five-hundred-fifty species! And, we humans are unique among them all and not just by a small measure. The disparity among the 550 is generally limited to small degrees in intellectual capacity and social skills. By contrast, adding human beings to the group of “primates” sheds a very bright light on the enormousdisparitybetweenthetwo across all intellectual categories. As noted in last week’s, our closest relative, the chimpanzee, has an IQ of about 25. For comparison, the average human IQ ranges from 85115. Perhaps it is better said that humans are astoundingly unique among primates indeed.
In previous studies, brain comparisons had been limited to size, proportion, and grey matter content observations. Using diffusion MRI brain scans and connectivity profiling with tractography algorithms, Mars and team made much deeper comparisons, suggesting human beings exhibit the development of “unique emotional and social behaviortraitsthatfurtherseparate us from primates.” And with that, the research project is deemed a success. But one has to wonder why there is not at least one out of those 550 species of primates that is much closer to us? If evolution is true, there should be some hybrid monkey-human species that exhibits brain function and behavioral patterns much more human-like, but none have been discovered.
Nevertheless, there is another hypothesis to explain human uniqueness. It is a straightforward and unchanging story that has been told for thousands of years. The same story—the same exact details relayed repeatedly, first orally, then by written word, and eventually translated into almost every language in virtually every corner of the globe. Unsurprisingly, then, Christians hold that none of these findings by Mars and team are earth-shattering, nor are they more than slightly remarkable. Christianity presents the conviction that each individual, regardless of skill possessed or talent bestowed, has been uniquely created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). As such, each person, regardless of IQ, is a member of the human race and is set far above and beyond the animal world. In fact, the Bible says that mankind is the intellectual pinnacle of creation, as evidenced by humans being assigned as guardians and keepers of all the other animals in the kingdom, even assigning them names (Gen 1:26-28). The same characters,thesamestory,thesame conclusion for thousands of years.
Where might we suppose scientific truth to be a thousand years from now? What about in one hundred? I personally find it unnerving, to say the least, that the scientific enterprise claims to hold the truth about the “non-existence” of God, all the while changing what they once held as truth and calling it discovery. Science is said to be advancing at an incredible pace in recent times. New findings and new discoveries replace the old truth, and the new truth is jotted down in pencil only to be erased within a few short years and replaced with the new, new truth. One thing is clear: if science is ever-advancing, then one is justified in being so bold as to say that today’s scientific “truth” is built upon yesterday’s lies.
Christianity stands on an immutable truth: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). Join us again next time as we travel beyond “monkey brains” in our quest to answer the fundamental question: Is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.