Re: What IS Intelligence

From: Calum (calum.bulk_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 12/12/03 

Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:56:57 +0000

Patrick Mulligan wrote:

> I guess my question is this- Are emotions a prerequisite to intelligence? OR
> is intelligance a pure objective science?
> And finally- If animals have intelligence- Why don't they fight back to what
> we are doing to the planet?
> Is their intelligance created merely in communities? Perhaps if they are
> mammals(gregarious)- then intelligance is created on a smaller scale?

I would define intelligence as the ability to solve new problems. By
this definition, computers are not intelligent because they cannot
program themselves.

Isn't intelligence something gradual? I mean, since humans (by
definition intelligent) evolved from amoebae (not intelligent), at some
point along the way, a threshold of "intelligence" was crossed. But I
don't think it would be like flicking a switch. Rather, I think
consciousness, like intelligence, is on a greyscale.

Animals don't realize what we are doing, because nobody can tell them,
and they are probably insufficiently intelligent. And given that
"intelligent" humans can't be bothered to rectify the planet and create
a just society, why should animals bother? Animals just look out for
themselves, just like humans. No, human intelligence still has a way to
go, at least judging by the chimp the Americans chose as their president.

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