As strange as it sounds, meat played a large part. Flesh is much more calorically dense than plant matter, so when our ancestors transitioned from an entirely/mostly plant based diet to one then included a fair amount of meat, it meant our bodies had more energy to devote to the brain. In modern humans, the brain is *incredibly* expensive, taking up ~20% of our caloric intake. So having extra energy to burn meant we could evolve better brains.
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