Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and the Evolution / Creation of the Human Brain And Mind
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy (historical and theoretical narrative analysis without empirical human data)
OpenAlex W2042187072 · doi:10.4067/s0717-65382009000300004
What was done
The author conducted a historical and conceptual analysis examining the fundamental disagreement between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace regarding human evolution, focusing on Wallace's departure from natural and sexual selection to explain human brain evolution and cognition.
What was found
The abstract reports historical and conceptual arguments without quantitative data. Darwin accounted for human evolution through natural and sexual selection. Wallace doubted sexual selection and argued that natural selection alone could not explain the size and complexity of the human brain across human populations, viewing it as superfluous for basic survival under strict adaptationism. Influenced by phrenology and spiritualism, Wallace invoked the intervention of a higher intelligence to explain human cognitive evolution.
Why it matters
This paper clarifies the historical and philosophical divergence between the co-discoverers of natural selection regarding the evolution of human cognition.
Limits
This is a narrative historical essay lacking empirical data, quantitative measurements, or modern neurobiological and evolutionary testing.
Cited by
- supports Alfred Russel Wallace independently developed the theory of evolution by natural selection in parallel with Charles Darwin.