And I hope I'm not going too far off the rails here (its where viewing this video lead my mind), but this makes me wonder further about what kind of technology we aren't aware of that was used by more ancient cultures. I mean, the Antikythera mechanism kind of blew the doors open for me when I learned it calculated the progression of celestial objects and other astronomical events.
It's possible, no? Probably not with a base of 2, but maybe with some other base or hybrid? We continually discover and get surprised by the skill of some ancient engineering (and the stunning core practicality of it at times).
I agree. Would not be surprised if we unearth more ancient machines like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism. I'd bet money Egyptian engineers first developed sophisticated tools (since lost) before building the Pyramids, for example. I'd also bet money there existed thinkers thousands of years ago who invented superior maths to our current maths, and made tools using those maths, but their work wasn't distributed enough and was lost. The brains of top thinkers back then were just as capable as the top brains we have today, afaict.
About the brain, you're correct AFAIK. Any expert on the subject that I've read has said (with explanation that I don't have) that we are working with "outdated hardware" in a way.
The neocortex is a relatively recent evolutionary advantage, but as long as humans have been humans (in the latest evolutionary stage), we've had the same stock parts.
