ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Merlin Donald

Merlin Donald is a very smart person who studies how people's brains work and how they think. He wrote a special book called "Origins of the Modern Mind" where he explains his ideas.

You know how you have a brain and it helps you do lots of things like thinking, talking, and understanding the world around you? Well, Merlin Donald thinks that our brains didn't always work like they do now. He believes that our brains had to go through some changes over a long, long time to become the way they are today.

In the olden days, people didn't have fancy things like houses, cars, or phones. They had to survive by hunting animals for food and making tools out of rocks and sticks. Merlin Donald thinks that during this time, people had a different kind of brain that was more focused on using their bodies to do things. They were good at remembering things by using their senses (like their eyes, ears, nose, and hands) and they didn't need to write things down because they could remember everything in their heads.

But then, something called "language" came along and changed everything. People started talking to each other and using words to communicate. This was a really important step because it allowed them to share information and learn from each other. Merlin Donald thinks that this is when our brains started to change and become more focused on language.

As time went on, people got better at using language. They started to use words to tell stories and share their thoughts and ideas. This made them really good at remembering things, but they also needed a way to write things down so they wouldn't forget. They invented things like writing systems using symbols and pictures, which allowed them to record information and remember it later. This is when our brains started to become more focused on using symbols and thinking abstractly.

Nowadays, we have really advanced technology like computers and the internet. We can store and access huge amounts of information very quickly. Merlin Donald thinks that this is another important change in our brains. We have become really good at using computers to help us remember things and think in new ways.

So, in summary, Merlin Donald is a smart person who believes that our brains have changed over time. We used to have brains that were focused on using our bodies, then we started using language and our brains changed to focus more on that. Eventually, we started using symbols and computers to help us remember and think, and our brains changed again.