Big brains use a lot of energy, and therefore their evolution
depended fi rst on building large feeding tubes. Later, the forces
of evolution changed strategies and depended on the development of a more effi cient and somewhat shorter feeding tube.
Thus, today we have a big brain and a gastrointestinal system
that is fairly effi cient at extracting energy for itself and its principal customer: the brain. If we reproduced asexually, our brain’s
job would mostly be done after orchestrating that activity. But
we’re not asexual creatures, and so our brain must use most of
its available energy to organize our behavior so that we can
socialize with others in our species and fi nd a mate with whom
to produce children. That’s our inherent biological imperative
anyway, whether or not everyone in our species responds to it.
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