Quote:
Originally posted by Regziever
Now that's a good one!
Here's mine:
what came first, abstract thinking or mental illness?
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Mental illness. An organism can have a brain incapable of abstract thought, but can still go haywire (unless you're not equating neurological illness to a mental illness (ie "mental" in the sense of the "mind" as an abstract-thinking-thing)).
In either case, take a peek at Julian Jaynes' "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind," which contends that auditory hallucinations (which would be considered a "mental illness" today, but was supposedly a function of evolutionary advantages sprung from language, negating it's classification as an "illness") preceded and subsequently spawned consciousness. Heavy shit.
But in all cases, your question seems to be very answerable :P