Discussion: BRAAAAAAINS

Fundamentally, a brain (as with multi-brains, neuron clusters, ect) is just another organ shaped by evolutionary favor.

In humans, brains are functional, in providing things like motor skills. In that way, its development path is inherantly connected to other aspects of a species' evolution. What its conscious capabilities are.
A basic skill like grasping objects stems from simply being a method of grabbing food. Fine-tuned manipulation is favored because it allows actions such as removing inedible portions from food; for a really silly example, think about a monkey peeling a banana, and how and why it reached that capability.
This leads into object manipulation, tools...hand-based forms of communication, writing. Complex machinery. Ect.
That's one example of how cognitive traits can make a direct connection between survivability-based evolution and aspects of a complex civilization.

Need, development, further development spurred by environmental factors favoring smaller changes to the original development over time, and those creatures who develop the intelligence to better utilize their bodies are those who thrive.


A threat emerges against a Prey animal.
Members of the species who develop senses that allow them to discover threats before being eaten are naturally favored.
Fight or flight instincts favoring flight improves the effectiveness of these senses.
Those who stay in packs are also more likely to survive.

For predators, heightened senses allow them to more easily locate prey.
Heightened brain evolutionary focus on perception is encouraged, to improve the ability to track prey.

...in the case of the Prey animal, the resulting impacts of these instinctual developments on the later sentient mind are likely to be an increased focus on negative aspects of their environment. Not sure how far into psychology Thrive will get, but I'd think that this would heighten the chances of mental conditions like depression. Visible in human beings. Positive impact, they'd be more likely to spot deceit.

In the case of the Predator, they'd likely be slow at first, but have an easier time learning through repetition (prey-tracking and behavioral analysis is similar).
Aggressive omnivores are a similar case.

In any creature that develops a Pack Mentality, civilization would probably be more encouraged.
...game-play-wise, the player could act as a scout and shepard/alert their herd away from danger/toward resources (if you have a lot of dogs in a deeply rural area, this behavior is sometimes visible).
Alternatively, play a bit more recklessly, perhaps gaining an upper hand, but encouraging species-wide independence through your success. Making species offshoots, and later civilization fragmentation more likely. A positive impact of this would be diverse, non-uniform mindsets, bringing faster tech development.

Other developmental choices, like scavenging, can have their own effects, or even open up easier paths to certain mental developments. Cleverness (increased ability to fool other creatures) is one.
Brood Parasitism is an interesting behavior, and its likelihood of success could, for example, be attached to Cleverness, Adaptability, pheromone output, and natural camouflages all at once. Later potential societal impacts of this behavior would be...complicated, but really interesting.



Alien physiology may differ, but the actual mentality of an alien race can be more or less understood by considering their developmental paths, and how exactly environmental conditions affect mentality. The same applies to species on our own planet, and they make good subjects of study.
In the previous examples, I was primarily thinking of Antelope, Lions, Coyotes, and Birds.




I think a webbed system would fit perfectly with these concepts. Branching paths, easier evolutionary routes in certain directions based upon player behavior, but few true 'lockouts' among the players options.
Stacking points in particular behavior types, new behaviors unlocked by basic prerequisites, even side-grades for specialization, but collectively, they all build up to the race's unique type of "Sentience".




By the way, here's a somewhat interesting discussion about possible brain/multibrain development conditions (after scrolling down a bit): worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/14807/what-are-the-conditions-in-which-a-creature-would-evolve-more-than-one-brain