Before Hominids

This chapter starts us with the very first nervous systems that enabled the first animals to move around in the ancient seas. It follows the development of neurons, the building blocks of the nervous system, right up to the first hominids (gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and humans). The big idea it presents is the distinction between pattern-based operations, which nervous systems do very well, and sequential operations, which nervous systems don’t do well at all. 

Early nervous systems

Sequentialism is discovered

Learning and Play

Hunting and Play

The Primates

The Hominidae

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