4 - An Evolutionary Paradigm

Summary

What could explain the evolution of the architecture of self-reflection, as outlined so far? According to Section 4.1, any such explanation faces a variety of formidable puzzles, such as the human uniqueness of self-reflection, the absence of a specialized DNA basis, the absence of a dedicated brain location, the inward turn of the self-reflective mind, and the apparent recency and speed of its evolution. To handle these puzzles and explain why and how young human minds respond in unprecedented ways to the selection pressures they face in mid-childhood and later, the remaining sections of the chapter assemble an evolutionary paradigm that finds revealing and fruitful explanatory connections among recent and independently elaborated approaches in three distinct research areas – genetics (Section 4.2), brain organization (Section 4.3) and, most importantly, developmental evolution (Section 4.4).