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We're lucky to have quite a few of these amazing plants growing wild on our property. I had never heard of them until we moved here six years ago. These plants are vines that climb on other plants, but rarely more than about six feet high. The flowers are stunning and exotic-looking, yet they are native to Missouri and much of the eastern United States. The flowers are awesome, and the resulting fruits are delicious. The fruits are sometimes called Maypops because when the fruits ripen (in May in southern locations), they pop loudly when you squeeze them. Anyway, inside the fruits are a bunch of seeds coated with delicious sweet gooey stuff (kind of like pomegranates). When Trish and I find these when we are on a walk, we pop them open, slop the seeds into our mouths, and suck all the gooey goodness off before spitting out the seeds. Passion flowers got their name when early Spanish missionaries came to the Americas and came up with the idea that certain aspects of the flower represented Christ's crucifixion (referred to as the "passion"). These flowers are great for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. They also have a long history of medicinal uses, to relieve anxiety, insomnia, pain, epilepsy and high blood pressure. Anyway, I just like the beauty of the flowers and the yumminess of the gooey fruits.  
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There's no end to the weird questions I ponder. But seriously… how intelligent can an individual person get? Are there biological or physical limits? This question doesn’t have a simple answer. But, hey… I don’t call these Life’s Great Mysteries for nothin’. Let’s dig in. Some researchers believe human intelligence has no limits. To me, this seems rather far-fetched, but let’s consider the arguments. These researchers argue that their computer models of brain function show that human thought can endlessly generate new deductions and inferences… as long as cognitive processes persist. In other words, if a human could live forever, without ever experiencing cognitive degradation, there may be no limit to increasing intelligence. Well then, it seems to me that the human lifespan, and more importantly, the cognitive decline as we age, automatically limits intelligence. Anyway, despite what I said above, most research seems to indicate there are biological and physical limits to human intelligence. For example, the size of the human brain already pushes the limits of what can fit through the birth canal during childbirth. I suppose human females could evolve larger birth canals to accommodate larger brains (obviously, they already have, right?). But some scientists think, as bipedal creatures, we’ve already hit that limit (much larger birth canals would impede walking and running). Okay, so maybe our brains can’t get much larger. But what if our brains developed more densely-packed neurons, or our neurons developed a way to transmit signals even faster? Unfortunately, due to the nature of neurons, there seems to be physical limits to both of these possibilities, and human brains (as well as brains of other animals) may have already reached these limits long ago. As adults, our brains already use 20% of the calories we consume, even though the brain is only 2% of our body weight. And with children, the brain can consume up to 65% of the body’s energy! Could our bodies even support a brain that requires much more energy? Where does this leave us? Have we reached the limit of human intelligence? Maybe. When it comes to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), I can see two arguments: Some people might suggest augmenting our own intelligence with AI will take us to the next level. Other people might suggest our reliance on AI will result in no need for our brains to continue evolving, and therefore we have already stalled out. My opinion? I’ll use the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm (from Jurassic Park): Nature finds a way.  Photo Credits: - Cloud brain - Midjourney 7 |
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October 2025
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