# Human brains are getting smaller **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499 "2009-10-20T17:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/1 "2009-10-20T17:10:31Z")
[According to John Hawks](http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/19/2102460.aspx) > [@](#): > > One of Hawks’ specialties is measuring how the typical shape of human skulls has changed over the course of thousands of years. The current view, based on skull measurements as well as genetics, is that the modern head isn’t as “long” as it was 10,000 years ago, with a resulting reduction in brain volume. “Brains are shrinking,” Hawks said. > > This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: The brain is the human body’s hungriest organ, consuming half of the glucose we take in. The modern brain may be packing more power into a smaller space and as a result cutting down on the biological energy requirements - with the help of external memory devices. > > “What do we need these brains for? We’ve got iPods,” Hawks joked. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/2 "2009-10-20T17:32:54Z")
And some say God doesnt have a sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/3 "2009-10-20T18:06:28Z")
Given that most people can’t be arsed to use what they’ve got, it was only a matter of time until natural selection resulted in _homo pinheadus_ ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/4 "2009-10-20T18:10:37Z")
The article is rather misleading. Heads are smaller, but that’s probably more because people don’t need bulky bone-boxes to protect against injury quite as much as the 'ole Homo Neanderthalis days. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/5 "2009-10-20T18:23:19Z")
…and Leon’s getting _laaaaaaarger_. (Had to be done.) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/6 "2009-10-20T18:27:05Z")
Go away, 'baitin! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-brains-are-getting-smaller/514499/7 "2009-10-20T18:54:18Z")
Just think about all those poor, starving zombies! _Honey, Feed the zombies!_