A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
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- Create Date：2025-01-01 03:20:25
- Update Date：2025-09-14
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- Author：Max Solomon Bennett
- ISBN：0063286351
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Summary
Equal parts Sapiens ， Behave， and Superintelligence ， but wholly original in scope， A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI。 Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow。 In the last decade， capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have， for the first time， become our reality。 AI is now able to produce original art， identify tumors in pictures， and even steer our cars。 And yet， large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed， human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems。 How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a dishwasher？ As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues， finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts， calamities， and clever innovations。 Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may depend on it。 Now， in A Brief History of Intelligence ， Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story， revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs。 Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience， Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework， identifying the “Five Breakthroughs” that mark the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward。 Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence。 Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI， A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains， as well as where AI systems still fall short。 Simply put， until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain’s long journey， AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence。 Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today， Bennett’s work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story。 With sweeping scope and stunning insights， A Brief History of Intelligence proves that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future。
Reviews
Jan
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Fascinating description of the physiological basis for five major stages in the ability to think。 In some ways， the most basic （steering in a nematode） was the most interesting because the correlation was clearest， whereas the fifth， language， was the most tenuous， being the most complex and difficult to untangle。 Makes one wonder what kind of thinking we’re incapable of， lacking the necessary brain structure。The author’s special interest is artificial intelligence and he draws parallels and dis Fascinating description of the physiological basis for five major stages in the ability to think。 In some ways， the most basic （steering in a nematode） was the most interesting because the correlation was clearest， whereas the fifth， language， was the most tenuous， being the most complex and difficult to untangle。 Makes one wonder what kind of thinking we’re incapable of， lacking the necessary brain structure。The author’s special interest is artificial intelligence and he draws parallels and distinctions from time to time but doesn’t go overboard on this。 。。。more
Delaney Hawn
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Dense， but fascinating。 It’s worth your while to stick with it。
Emil O。 W。 Kirkegaard
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It's about intelligence but not from the human intelligence research perspective。 Rather it's a history of how intelligence evolved on earth and how mimicking it led to AI。 It's about intelligence but not from the human intelligence research perspective。 Rather it's a history of how intelligence evolved on earth and how mimicking it led to AI。 。。。more
Emma Bradford
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Bit dense for me tbh
Gia
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Information at its finest。
Besna E。
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It's no wonder Daniel Kahneman was so fascinated by this book。 Cannot wait to read it again！ I really didn't expect the CEO of an AI company to have such a good grasp of neuroscience， psychology， evolutionary biology， and anthropology to explain the evolution of intelligence。 It's no wonder Daniel Kahneman was so fascinated by this book。 Cannot wait to read it again！ I really didn't expect the CEO of an AI company to have such a good grasp of neuroscience， psychology， evolutionary biology， and anthropology to explain the evolution of intelligence。 。。。more
Jessica
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Structure makes this digestible and meaningful。 Was hoping for more AI discussion earlier on。
Troy Cairns
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Impressive and brilliant if you have an interest in evolutionary biology and AI。 Thorough， detailed， clear and just fascinating。
Joe
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Highly accessible for non specialists。 The format also allows for it to be picked up and put down with useful summaries at the end of each section。
George Faulkner
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One of the very best books I've ever read on neuroscience （and I've read many）。 Surprisingly， the author is an AI expert and entrepreneur， not a neuroscientist， but his background helped him think about how one might develop a human-level brain if one could build it as an AI。 It's clearly well researched and the author acknowledges the time spent with many neuroscientists developing the ideas。 The author does not directly wrestle with the nature of consciousness， as many other recent books have One of the very best books I've ever read on neuroscience （and I've read many）。 Surprisingly， the author is an AI expert and entrepreneur， not a neuroscientist， but his background helped him think about how one might develop a human-level brain if one could build it as an AI。 It's clearly well researched and the author acknowledges the time spent with many neuroscientists developing the ideas。 The author does not directly wrestle with the nature of consciousness， as many other recent books have tried， but his indirect approach leads to many implications， including how natural and necessary consciousness is at even the level of simple organisms。 It's veery compatible with neuroscientist Mark Solm's contention that consciousness primarily is equivalent to feeling and sensing， whereas intelligence per se is centered around learning， memory， recognition， etc。 to enable the organism to sustain itself （or its offspring）。 。。。more
Hannah Ashraf
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An absolute must read！！What an amazing work。 I am Physician and had some formal training in some of the topics discussed but have learned so much fascinating stuff on the evolution of brain and intelligence from this book。 Complex topic presented in a very lucid manner， a multi billion journey condensed without losing important details。
Mark
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Brilliant， one of the best and clearest way s to understand the brain and human evolution。 Step by step， over billions of years just only a fews minutes into the evolution of our universe
Alvaro Sánchez
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Este libro es buenisisísimo
James Martin
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A fascinating overview of the evolution of intelligence， focussed on human intelligence， told in part through the lens of the development of artificial intelligence。 Rich in detail， it's a narrative well told with many examples from the scientific literature。 A fascinating overview of the evolution of intelligence， focussed on human intelligence， told in part through the lens of the development of artificial intelligence。 Rich in detail， it's a narrative well told with many examples from the scientific literature。 。。。more
raresh
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riveting， one of the best pop science books i’ve ever read！ manages to strike a perfect balance between layman language and explanation and depth
Matthew Young
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Fantasic！ Bennett lays out the chronological evolution of the human brain and identifies 5 major milestones that helped us get to where we are today。 He also makes it easy to understand （mostly， I'm not knowledgeable in brian function and was generally able to follow along）。 That alone makes this well worth the read。 Bonus， there's also periodic connections to current AI and how it compares to our human intelligence evolution。 Fantasic！ Bennett lays out the chronological evolution of the human brain and identifies 5 major milestones that helped us get to where we are today。 He also makes it easy to understand （mostly， I'm not knowledgeable in brian function and was generally able to follow along）。 That alone makes this well worth the read。 Bonus， there's also periodic connections to current AI and how it compares to our human intelligence evolution。 。。。more
Adam Van Essen
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I found A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution， AI， and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains to be an engaging and thought-provoking read。 The deep dive into the evolutionary history of intelligence and the breakthroughs that shaped our brains was fascinating， though I suspect the level of detail might not appeal to everyone （I am a bit of a geek）。 While the book offered interesting and enlightening correlations between human intelligence and AI， I was hoping for a stronger tie-in to I found A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution， AI， and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains to be an engaging and thought-provoking read。 The deep dive into the evolutionary history of intelligence and the breakthroughs that shaped our brains was fascinating， though I suspect the level of detail might not appeal to everyone （I am a bit of a geek）。 While the book offered interesting and enlightening correlations between human intelligence and AI， I was hoping for a stronger tie-in to AI throughout the narrative。 The connections that were made felt somewhat limited， leaving me wanting more exploration of how these breakthroughs translate directly into AI development。 Nonetheless， it's an informative and worthwhile read for those who enjoy detailed explorations of evolution and cognition。 。。。more
Balachander
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Fascinating though I can’t claim to have understood the bits where he explains how neural networks works。 Beyond that， this is a very interesting book on the evolution of the brain - from simple， unicellular organisms to life as we now know it to the AI dominated future。 As usual， my grouse is that the illustrations （beautiful though they are） are still not fully understandable since they’re limited by being 2d。
Connor Stack
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Very technical deep dive into intelligence as it evolved from RNA all the way up to humans。 It names lots of brain parts， which is boring， but it also is full of super interesting ideas。 Also cool to see parallels between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence。Most evolved intelligence operates on simple heuristics。Precursors to emotions: Arousal and Affect。Arousal: Do I want to expend energy？ Affect: Do I want to remain here or go somewhere else？High arousal + Positive affect: excitem Very technical deep dive into intelligence as it evolved from RNA all the way up to humans。 It names lots of brain parts， which is boring， but it also is full of super interesting ideas。 Also cool to see parallels between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence。Most evolved intelligence operates on simple heuristics。Precursors to emotions: Arousal and Affect。Arousal: Do I want to expend energy？ Affect: Do I want to remain here or go somewhere else？High arousal + Positive affect: excitement， expectation。 Try hard to get the reward。High arousal + Negative affect: anxiety， anger， fear。 Fight or flight。Low arousal + Positive affect: contentment。 enjoy the good times and don't mess things up。Low arousal + Negative affect: depression。 save energy and hope the situation changes。Dopamine = high arousal = wanting = food is nearbySerotonin = low arousal = liking = food is insideTemporal Difference Learning - Assume that later predictions are more accurate than earlier predictions， and use that to improve predictions。 Then reinforce behaviors that maximize predicted reward。Dopamine spikes when you are given stimulus that predicts reward。 It drops when expected reward is not given。 Dopamine started as a signal to trigger exploitation behavior， but it evolved into a reinforcement signal。 Disappointment and relief are as reinforcing as reward and punishment。Pattern recognition came in the form of smell。 It's the first sense that recognizes a pattern of neurons rather than particular neurons。Predicting， imagining， remembering and dreaming are all basically the same thing: simulation。Constant passive prediction means you can ignore almost all sensory input like the feeling of your feet on the ground， but get alerted if anything unexpected happens， like stepping in a potholeRegret is simulating the good thing that didn't happen。Episodic memory is a simulation of the past。Model based AI = goal seeking behavior in animals = "slow" thinking from "Thinking fast and slow" = logicModel-free AI = habitual behavior in animals = "fast" thinking from "Thinking fast and slow" = intuition 。。。more
Perham Black
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The book sweeps you through the history of our brains in a quick and enjoyable ride。 Along the way， it makes comparisons to machine intelligence systems， showing both how basic and how remarkably complex we humans are。 This book changed my perspective on human brain relative to other species and made me appreciate how much we have come to understand and how very very far we are from understanding our brains entirely。
Alec Lawlor
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Excellent read。 This book is a great introduction to the brain and tells a compelling story of the evolutionary breakthroughs that led to intelligence as we know it today。 Each breakthrough includes a tie-in to Artificial Intelligence and provides insight into how Deep Learning mimics the brain to build intelligent machines。The book is much heavier on the neuroscience/evolution side， so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone looking for in-depth AI learnings。
Wesley Teerlink
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One of the best books I have ever read。 If you enjoyed Hrari’s Sapien this should be next up。 Deep understanding of how brains evolved and what makes humans different also sheds so much like on the AI world of tech。 Highly recommended
Iain
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Max Bennett's A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution， AI， and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains （2023） is a fascinating exploration of the evolutionary journey that has shaped human intelligence and its implications for the future of artificial intelligence。 While it offers extensive background on how intelligence developed on Earth over billions of years and later how one primate， humans came to dominate the realm it deals minimally with AI。 Bennett offers more of a comparative un Max Bennett's A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution， AI， and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains （2023） is a fascinating exploration of the evolutionary journey that has shaped human intelligence and its implications for the future of artificial intelligence。 While it offers extensive background on how intelligence developed on Earth over billions of years and later how one primate， humans came to dominate the realm it deals minimally with AI。 Bennett offers more of a comparative understanding as he writes about how we got here and now here we are。 It is a compelling narrative about the forces that have sculpted our minds and the milestones that may define the next chapter in human and machine intelligence。 More for the biologist who wishes to understand how we came to be versus the technologist who wishes to glance into our future。 Simply put… “The physicist Richard Feynman left the following on a blackboard shortly before his death: “What I cannot create， I do not understand” 。。。more
James Mason
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Recommended by Vishal。
Mel
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If seeking a book explaining the creation of artificial intelligence and large language models， this is *not* the book for you。 Instead this book goes through the evolution of the brain over 600 million years in excruciating detail。 Maybe 40-50 pages touch on robotics with only the final chapter dedicated to LLMs。
Galen
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good baseline for evolutionary neuroscience， thorough citations and such are a bonus， I haven’t seen a better book of this shape but one ought to exist， tho I think it’s hard to thread the needle in technical background
Aliya
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3。5Good overview of the human brain evolution， but personally it contained an overwhelming amount of information， which made finishing it difficult。
Ben Moskowitz
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Everything a quality science book aims to be。 Informative， well-structured， novel ideas， and logical progression。 A thoroughly well researched， strongly argued thesis， one that is highly relevant to this point in time。If you have even a minute desire to learn more about the evolution of our intelligence this book will surely fascinate you。
Lee Ryan
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It was good。 Above my pay grade and my brain。 Hard read for me personally but it was good。 （3。75 stars）
Peter Blom
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Bij veel van de populair wetenschappelijke boeken strand ik ergens omdat het te gedetailleerd wordt en daarom niet meer zo interessant。De opbouw van dit verhaal blijft echter spannend， de 5 doorbraken， telkens gelardeerd met vele interessante voorbeelden。Ook heel leerzaam de vergelijking met de ontwikkeling van de AI， uitmondend in de llm's chatgpt 3 en de nu weer sterk verbeterde 4，Een hypothese， we weten immers niets zeker over de precieze hersenontwikkeling die wellicht 600 miljoen jaar geled Bij veel van de populair wetenschappelijke boeken strand ik ergens omdat het te gedetailleerd wordt en daarom niet meer zo interessant。De opbouw van dit verhaal blijft echter spannend， de 5 doorbraken， telkens gelardeerd met vele interessante voorbeelden。Ook heel leerzaam de vergelijking met de ontwikkeling van de AI， uitmondend in de llm's chatgpt 3 en de nu weer sterk verbeterde 4，Een hypothese， we weten immers niets zeker over de precieze hersenontwikkeling die wellicht 600 miljoen jaar geleden met de doorbraak van sturing begon。 Maar zeer overtuigend en smakelijk verteld。5 sterren！ 。。。more
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