Cognitive Labs

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Why is the creature known as the hobbit important in our studies of the mind and brain? Well, the hobbit indicates that the evolutionary path described by palaeoanthropologists up until now has been incomplete. We have a few links to the best coverage of this story on our blog, which you can find at cognitivelabs.com.

Human origins have long been a great interest of ours - going back to my days at Berkeley where the Institute of Human Origins – run by Donald Johansen of Lucy fame (now in Arizona) was right down the street from my apartment on Hearst Avenue.

And, this is a topic of investigation in which many experts in the fields of pre-history can trace their point of origin – even archaeologists specializing in Egypt such as the predynastic and prehistoric period – an era lost in the mists of time.

Figures such as Hobbit show us that evolution is hardly a linear path. There are anomalies throughout the path. Hobbit has an exceptionally large brain – very large for its small stature and certainly larger than other proto-hominids.

What does this mean? (You'll have to listen to get the rest of the story!)