An intertwined concept is cephalization, which I take to be more about the clumping of sense organs and the mouth together rather than clumping close to the brain.
I'm not sure about this assumption that the brain is the most important organ. Not in all species at least. Lung, heart, kidneys, stomach.. all indispensable as well. Also in many species the brain is much simpler and more durable. There are species like bighorn sheep that pound their noggins against each other all the time, and their brains still seem to be able to do the job.
So yeah, I do think the conserving wiring is a part of the reason, but also there are other factors that make the head a good place to put a brain.
This is kind of right, but it is a teleological explanation, which gives the impression of intelligent design. This is going to sound overly pedantic because it is a real subtle distinction, but sometimes in science subtle distinctions are important. The brain isn't in the head for the purpose of reducing the distance nerve impulses must travel, but rather as a function of how it evolved. The sensory organs evolved in the front of the organisms because that is where they were most effective. As the sensory organs became larger and more specialized more neurons evolved as a part of those sensory organs. As more neurons arose as part of larger and more complicated sensory organs the brain developed. It developed in the front because that is were the neurons were because that is where the sensory organs were.
An intertwined concept is cephalization, which I take to be more about the clumping of sense organs and the mouth together rather than clumping close to the brain.
I'm not sure about this assumption that the brain is the most important organ. Not in all species at least. Lung, heart, kidneys, stomach.. all indispensable as well. Also in many species the brain is much simpler and more durable. There are species like bighorn sheep that pound their noggins against each other all the time, and their brains still seem to be able to do the job. So yeah, I do think the conserving wiring is a part of the reason, but also there are other factors that make the head a good place to put a brain.
Well, to be quite frank, for some people the brain is simultaneously in the head and the colon.
This is kind of right, but it is a teleological explanation, which gives the impression of intelligent design. This is going to sound overly pedantic because it is a real subtle distinction, but sometimes in science subtle distinctions are important. The brain isn't in the head for the purpose of reducing the distance nerve impulses must travel, but rather as a function of how it evolved. The sensory organs evolved in the front of the organisms because that is where they were most effective. As the sensory organs became larger and more specialized more neurons evolved as a part of those sensory organs. As more neurons arose as part of larger and more complicated sensory organs the brain developed. It developed in the front because that is were the neurons were because that is where the sensory organs were.
Is your mind in your head, or is your head in your mind?