Err, you may be right re meat-eating and intelligence. However, I should point out that size of brain is not important on its own. Intelligence is defined by the ratio between brain-size and body-mass. Elephants have large brains but also large body-mass, so are not all that intelligent. Squirrels aren't too bright, either, with "reflexes" not being a sign of intelligence. It is true that sea mammals like dolphins often have large brains, but they need them as they, needing air, cannot afford to sleep underwater, so they need one half of the brain to be awake all the time, with the other half asleep, in order to reach the surface regularly and breathe.
Not all elephants and squirrels have intelligence and intellect just as not all humans have intelligence and intellect.
Fast reflexes is a sign of long term potentiation.
Squirrels that I've fed an abundance of in-shell black oil sunflower seeds were extremely fast days later when they chased the non-intelligent squirrels from the high quality food and were quite intelligent and playful in their mating behavior. Quite similar to humans when a male is courting a female. Unfortunately many squirrels live around junk food eating humans and therefore are fed junk roasted nuts and cookies. And suffer from addiction and chronic stress from the car noise & air pollution as self evident by their ringworm infection. Hence why they seem unintelligent in cities while suffering immensely.
Sharks also have the same ability as dolphins regarding half of the brain staying awake and they have puny brains.
Dolphins have large brains because of their mating behavior and their consumption of a lot of Omega fatty acids from fish and seaweed. Love increases the production of neurochemicals which drives the production of prostaglandins in the nervous system which lastly stimulates the production of neurotrophins.
Love, not war, drives cranial expansion.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51246752_NGF_and_romantic_loveLions on the other hand kill cups of their own specie so they can mate right away with the mother. There is nothing more stupid, arrogant and selfish then this type of action.
OK, please share it with us.
If you have one good reason.
What utter nonsense, humans evolved larger brains while living as pack hunters, and foraging opportunistic scavengers. The elephant analogy does not apply because elephants stomachs are designed to consume large quantities of foliage to fuel thier larger brains. Nor is it relevant about the size brains of other predators, because at some level evolution can be a resource conservative phenomenon, especially when periodic scarcity is an everyday reality and for animals who rely more on tooth and claw to obtain foods, freakishly large brains may not be an advantage, by weighing down the front end of four legged predators, and demanding much more calories to fuel, larger brains may not be advantageous for the more primitive beast...As for humans I believe it was critically necessary for the evolution of our massive brains, that liberal amounts of animal fats, like DHA, were essential for the green lighting the Lamarckian epigenetic quantum leap. Because we learned to crack open the bones of animals , and eat the brains and marrow, as well as crabs, cray fish, shell fish, bugs, birds, lizards...basically anything we could get our hands on.... the bodies micro RNA took full advantage of the abundance of neuro-generative nutrients found in those animal foods and through a process of Lamarckian Evolution, used that excess life energy intelligently to create the most magnificent jewel of the natural world.
During the period of the epic cranial expansion, which is the most dramatic growth of any organ in such a short time, in known evolutionary history, our ancestors ate large quantities of meat...large bone yards have been found with clear evidence that stone tools where used to smash open bones, cut flesh for consumption...there is also evidence that even before the development of sophisticated tools and larger brains hominids were collecting shellfish, savaging and even used raw uncut stones to smash critters heads in....whoever can deny this denies their own nature.
You fail to see the difference between neurodegeneration(deficiency), maintenance(sufficient) and neurogenesis(abundance of Omega fatty acids, vitamins and minerals). Elephants can keep eating foliage and never increase their cranial size from baseline because there isn't any Omega 6 fatty acids from whole foods in abundance to provide the "Lamarckian epigenetic quantum leap". Especially while living near the equator since Vitamin D limits the production of prostaglandins. Hence why those living further away from the equator have larger cranials.
What you said regarding lions makes sense on a elementary level however not on a biochemical level.
You're assumption that humans are the most magnificent jewel of the natural world is wishful thinking. The majority of humans are gullible and arrogant. They will do anything for made up monopoly money including hurting their own specie. Hence placing amalgam fillings in young children's teeth without their permission and ruining their lives for decades and nobody caring or doing anything while these children not only have to reverse their own neurodegeneration but they need to piece their lives back together while trying to learn to trust these waste of a life humans that keep making a mess.
We started consuming raw nuts and oily seeds like cantaloupe seeds(rich in Omega 6 fatty acids) before we gained enough brain mass to migrate for the seafood. I don't deny we consumed a lot of seafood that contributed in conjunction of Omega 6's to our present cranial size however my own experience as a child trying to consume raw grass fed meat and having trouble chewing it and spitting it out just like spitting out and gagging on broccoli tells me that meat from land animals is survival food. While consuming large quantities of Merluzzo, lattuga, raw pistacchios, melons and stone fruits to my hearts desire while growing up in Italy tells me more than anything.
My experience with consuming raw grass fed beef without condiments for a couple of weeks led to the same conclusion. Quite disgusting body odor. And it is self-evident that those who consume meat from land animals aren't anywhere near as attractive as those of us who don't consume land animals.
My own experience tells me that Adrenic Acid is superior than DHA and the science proves that AA is a lot more potent than EPA for growth unless someone is deficient in Vitamin D, then EPA can work for bone resorption. My own experience of gaining half an inch in penile length from 7" to 7.5" and girth from 5.5" to 6" tells me that the biochemical science is correct in regards to PGE1(made from an Omega 6 fatty acid) in increasing penis size in conjunction of prolonged love making.
I have a proposition for you to test whose brain is more efficienct (Long-term potentiation). Write a paragraph in cursive if you can as soon as you wake up. Initial it with your username and date. I will do the same. Whoever has the more legible and impeccable hand writing wins. Are you up for the challenge?