On: Research says women are getting more beautiful

[jacquesm]

> muscle mass, neural mass and fat are the most significant ways humans spend discretionary calories.

I can see the fat and the muscle, but neural mass ?

Do you have a citation for that ?

[helveticaman → jacquesm]

No, I don't. But I've asked doctors, and they say the nervous system takes up between 20 and 30% of a person's caloric intake. A third is spent on maintenance and two thirds on firing synapses. Apparently it's ridiculously energy-intensive to fire those things. I was surprised too.

It is also the case that humans have a huge amount of brain matter for their size. And keep in mind it does not take that much brain power to survive; in fact, there's a theory humans have evolved large brains as sexual ornamentation, as it apparently helps attract mates.

[whatusername → jacquesm]

Hows this: (from yesterday) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=725333

[jacquesm → whatusername]

Yes, it uses energy, because it has chemical reactions going on.

But that does not make it structurally heavier.

Nor do I expect my nervous system to gain in weight significantly when I have an excess budget of calories.

I'd expect to get fatter though.