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The human brain appears to us to be wonderful, but don’t be tricked: it’s a botch job that lives to fool us. We believe it is the tool for getting to know the Universe, but the only function evolution has set on the brain is to try and survive dangers on the savannah.

And as evolution doesn’t follow any divine plan or design – no matter how much some may say to the contrary – the brain is far from being perfect. If we could redesign it from zero to obtain a perfect brain, many of its functions would be different. The only thing we can do is to learn to live with an organ that it more inelegantly hotchpotch than perfect. This is what the Psychologist from New York University, Gary Marcus, explains to us, who is also author of the book ‘Kluge’.

To find out more:

* ‘Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind‘, book by Gary Marcus.
* Gary Marcus’ academic website.
* ‘Language, Biology, and the Mind‘, interview with Gary Marcus on Edge.org.
* ‘Total Recall: The Woman Who Can’t Forget‘, article by Marcus in Wired.