According to the gene shortage argument, genes can’t be very important to the birth of the mind because the genome contains only about 30,000 genes, simply too few to account even for the brain’s complexity—with its billions of cells and tens of billions of connections between neurons—much less the mind’s. “Given that ratio,” Ehrlich suggested, “it would be quite a trick for genes typically to control more than the most general aspects of human behavior.”
To me, the clearest argument against this position is that horses can walk within a couple hours after being born. That doesn't seem like anywhere near enough trials to learn how to walk from first principles. The method to walk must be encoded in the horse's DNA.
Humans can't walk at birth, obviously. But Occam's Razor suggests that if the ability to walk can be encoded within a horse's DNA, it can also be encoded within a human's DNA.
Anecdotally, when I watch a baby learn to walk, it doesn't really seem like they are trying a zillion things and picking the one that works. It seems much more like their instincts are telling them to move a certain way, and once they grow strong enough, it succeeds and they are walking.
To me, the clearest argument against this position is that horses can walk within a couple hours after being born. That doesn't seem like anywhere near enough trials to learn how to walk from first principles. The method to walk must be encoded in the horse's DNA.
Humans can't walk at birth, obviously. But Occam's Razor suggests that if the ability to walk can be encoded within a horse's DNA, it can also be encoded within a human's DNA.
Anecdotally, when I watch a baby learn to walk, it doesn't really seem like they are trying a zillion things and picking the one that works. It seems much more like their instincts are telling them to move a certain way, and once they grow strong enough, it succeeds and they are walking.