Hork-Bajir brain theory

[Dogman15]

Here's a theory that just came to me a few minutes ago, but after skimming the Brain article on Wikipedia, I'm less enthusiastic about it. Just the same, here's what my original thought was:

Most Hork-Bajir have an unbifurcated brain. I say this because in the part of Visser where Edriss 562 first enters a human host (the Iraqi), she/it/he places an emphasis on the description of how unique the human brain's division is, as if it were drastically different than a Hork-Bajir brain.

Hork-Bajir seers, on the other hand, do have a bifurcated brain. This allows them to think more on the same level with humans and Andalites.

After skimming the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain Brain article on Wikipedia, I'm pretty sure that humans aren't the only (Earth) animals with bifurcated brains. Chimps and dolphins have them, too.

Question for debate: Do most Hork-Bajir lack a division in their brain like humans? And do Hork-Bajir seers have this division? (You do remember the purpose and significance of these divisions, right? Like what each half focuses on?)

[DinosaurNothlit]

Interesting theory.  However, there is a reference in the Hork-bajir chronicles to the physical makeup of the Hork-bajir brain, as noted by Esplin upon entering a Hork-bajir for the first time.

The brain was divided into lobes, two fairly smooth, one deeply wrinkled.

Obviously, these divisions are not as deep as the one in a human brain, or else Edriss would not have thought that the human brain was so weird for being divided as it is.  I would therefore like to submit my own version of your theory.

Perhaps Arn brains are like human brains and divided into lobes (except that they have three where we have two), and perhaps that is the basis for their intelligence, like you speculate.  When designing the Hork-bajir, they had no choice but to base Hork-bajir brains off of their own, because they had no other reference to use to figure out how a sentient brain worked, since they had no contact with other races at the time.  So, in order to make the Hork-bajir dumber, they toned down the division between the lobes, but of course they couldn't wipe out the division entirely because that would destroy the functioning capacity of the brain.  This would also explain why the Arn found it so difficult to eliminate the "Seer" gene, as it would only take a very small genetic mutation to amplify the split between the lobes of the brain and give rise to an Arn-like intelligence.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     You people are far too smart.

     I mean, you guys are talking about physics, bilology and all that good stuff.

     Me...I'm making jokes about bumbleweeds in the "Things they'd never say."

[Dogman15]

Yeah! Woo for way-too-smartness!
I love this science stuff!

(I'm also working (in my head only) on a plausible way that real working (and convincing) Andalite and Hork-Bajir costumes could be made, but I don't think I'll make a post about it for a while...)

[Phoenix004]

I like your theory Dino. My limited human brain tells me it makes sense and sounds smart.

[DinosaurNothlit]

*swells with pride*

Lol, I'm normally not that smart, but I have my Seer moments.

Oh, and I had another idea.  You ready for this?  Perhaps Taxxons' brains are composed of only one lobe, and perhaps that is why they are so single-minded.  Haha, I couldn't resist that pun. 

(I'm also working (in my head only) on a plausible way that real working (and convincing) Andalite and Hork-Bajir costumes could be made, but I don't think I'll make a post about it for a while...)

You better post about that when you get done!  I think an Andalite costume has been done before, but to the best of my knowledge nobody has been brave enough to attempt a Hork-bajir.

[Dogman15]

Where has an Andalite costume been "attempted" before? Surely it pales in comparison to the Hollywood/ILM-special-effects-like idea I have!

[DinosaurNothlit]

Check it out.

[Dogman15]

I'd better just not say anything about the costume, my idea is much more expensive...

But a better URL to link to would have been http://www.hiracdelest.com/blog/?p=68

[MoppingBear]

Bifurcation doesn't have to correlate with intelligence.  Visser 1 was likely surprised at our brains because most species in general have an unburcated brain.

[Dogman15]

Most species in general have an unburcated brain.

Really? :| Not by what I gleaned by skimming Wikipedia's "Brain" article. I'm not about to read the whole thing, but I remember it said quite a few animals, like chimps and maybe dolphins and pigs, have bifurcated brains.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Eh, you can't really use earth animals as examples, because the neocortex only evolved once here on earth, and all animals that have it are descended from that one instance.  Therefore, all earth creatures that have neocortexes are going to have some traits in common, such as bifurcated brains.  So, it may be the case that bifurcated brains are essential to intelligence, or it may be the case that that was just the first design evolution came up with and just ran with it, we can't really know one way or the other.

[MoppingBear]

Most species in general have an unburcated brain.

Really? :| Not by what I gleaned by skimming Wikipedia's "Brain" article. I'm not about to read the whole thing, but I remember it said quite a few animals, like chimps and maybe dolphins and pigs, have bifurcated brains.

I meant in the Animorphs universe.  Visser 1 is clearly surprised by the human brain, and the Yeerks have infested multiple species up to that point, so it stands to reason that most species, except those on Earth, have unbifurcated brains.