r/showerthoughts
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Nov. 6, 2022, 10:24 a.m. by TypicalTimmy
I was looking at Hydra artwork over MTG because I'm kind of interested in seeing if I can make a Hydra themed deck, and had this thought.
When a Hydra has its head removed, it grows two in its place. If these two are exact copies of the original, that would mean it literally doubles its brain matter, with regards to the head that was removed.
So does a Hydra grow more and more intelligent with each removal? Or does the brain split in half and each of the two new heads gets half of the former brain? This way the overall brain mass remains the same, despite there being two new craniums?
In nature having multiple heads does not make something more intelligent, even though it increases the amount of brain matter - they simply have more independent brains that are not networked together. One need only look at any two headed creature in nature, including conjoined twins among humans, and see that the neurological connections do not result in super geniuses.
Even in a world with magic, like with the mythologies Hydras are based on, there is no indication they have some greater intelligence. The heads tend to move with the same basic purpose, following the same instinct - after all, their brain material, memories, and thought processes are the same so they would react to situations similarly). That means they likely avoid a Tale of Sir Robin three-headed giant situation, but still are acting more like a bunch of independent minds acting in unison than one hyper-brain.
November 6, 2022 10:54 a.m.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #4
The brain could be chillin' in the body itself, thus rendering the whole problem moot..
Alternatively, it's brain could be running along the entire length of the creature, like a common earthworm..
November 6, 2022 5:59 p.m.
Hydras are actually very large single-celled organisms. The myth that they regrow heads originates from observing one develop additional pseudopods in response to a stressful stimulus i.e. penetration and separation of the thick and semi-rigid cell membrane, isolating a small number of organelles.
After this observation occured, the Hydra subject retracted its pseudopods once the injury was sealed, leading to the further belief that a hydra's additional "heads" may occasionally wither and fall off.
These misinterpretations, while reasonably explaining the observations at the time, have contributed to a lack of understanding of hydra biology and misinformation about their apparent regenerative capabilities.
(What did I just write...)
November 6, 2022 6:50 p.m.
A lot of media seems to agree that Hydra heads can argue with each other (Notably the hydra in Disney's animated movie Hercules, but I can name a few others). This would indicate multiple brains, each with the intelligence to realize that it wants the food more than its competitors.
So it would seem that while hydras do increase in brain mass, it is not beneficial to the base creature.
There's my attempt at overanalyzing it :P
November 6, 2022 7:52 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #7
legendofa I have an objection for the way you used the word "originates" in this context '^^
I think the single-celled organism with the misinterpreted regenerative powers was called "Hydra" because of the mythical beast that Heracles (Hercules) had slain, and not the other way around. The freshwater polyp was mentioned first in 1702 AD, where the legend of Heracles started wel before 500 BC '^^
The information you supplied isn't wrong, just the cause and effect in relation to myth/fantasy is reversed, I think ;)
November 7, 2022 3:52 a.m.
plakjekaas Aw. Darn. You mean Heracles didn't fight a humongous cnidarian? Oh, well.
shadow63 says... #2
I have no answer for that. But I kinda want to see a dystopian fantasy movie with hydra farms where they just cut off the heads but keep the hydra alive as a cheap for source for the poor
November 6, 2022 10:42 a.m.