I am going to build upon yesterday's post and discuss more about the meaning of the word "intelligence". First off, let me define intelligence as "organization". Everything that exists has some sort of organization. The simplest organization might be a sub-atomic particle. You choose the name you prefer... quark, neutrino, gluon, etc... that is not what is important... What is important is that if it is matter or energy, there is some sort of organization to it and properties that are a result of that organization. The organization is what I refer to as intelligence. For example, a chair has a certain organization of its molecules that allows it to fulfill a purpose... to allow a person to sit down and rest from standing. I would therefore say that the intelligence of the chair is that it allows a person to sit down. Now some chairs are more intelligent in the sense they are more comfortable. Others are more intelligent in the sense that they provide the user with a better posture. Each chair has an inherent intelligence that allows it to serve a specific purpose. So an electron, an atom, a molecule, a compound, a rock, a piece of wood, a tree, a chair, a table, a car, a computer, a beetle, a dog, a monkey, a human all have intelligence. And of course, they are all different levels of intelligence. I cannot expect a dog to have the intelligence of a human, and likewise, I cannot expect a rock to have the intelligence of a dog. Everything has the intelligence that is necessary for that thing to fulfill its purpose. And "purpose" is very broad. A rock for example can serve as a weapon, as a building material, as an instrument, as cooking surface, etc. Likewise, everything else we see can serve for many purposes. Also, it goes without saying that some intelligences are more advanced overall that others. For example, a computer is as intelligent as the programming it has allows it to be. But still to this date, we do not have computers that are self-aware. Where as dogs, birds, and lower "animal lifeforms" are self aware and thus possess a form of intelligence that is more advanced than a computer. However, I think it is only a matter of time before we have computers that too are self aware.
Now, let me get back to the definition I gave earlier... intelligence is organization. Let me provide you another more concrete example of this... Our brains are made up of 100 Billion neurons. And we all have roughly the same amount of brain cells, no matter if you are a genius or an idiot. The number of brain cells is about the same. What the difference is between the genius and the idiot is the ORGANIZATION of the brain. Specifically, it is the organization of the neural connections. The more intelligent person will have more interconnected neurons than the idiot. And the intelligence is all wrapped up in how the brain neurons are interconnected. And as opposed to a computer, the brain is very plastic in that it can be easily changed... thus allowing an idiot to become a genius with enough work and practice, or a genius to become an idiot through either neglect or disease such as in the case of Alzheimer's. Now, if we wanted to clone a person's intelligence, all we would need to do is map out the brain, map out all the interconnections, and replicate it in another brain. Provided everything else is equal such as hormones, and other chemicals, you could in this manner transfer the intelligence and experience of one person to another. And thus this is a perfect example of intelligence simply being "organization". Another example is that of a computer program. What is the difference between a computer CD with a really cool chess program recorded on it and a computer CD with nothing recorded on it? The one with the chess program has more intelligence than the empty CD. But the microscopic difference between the two is simply the organization of the bits of information on the CDs. The organization of the empty CD is pure chaos. The organization of the other CD is such that it serves (in the proper environment as a computer) as an intelligent program that can challenge people in the game of chess.
Since every piece of matter in the universe is part of a system, or is a system or both, every piece of matter has some sort of purpose (for itself or for a system) and an organization. AND thus has also a degree of intelligence.
This should be a new way of understanding and thinking about intelligence. This is yet another important concept to know and understand which I will build upon in later blogs.
-mostinsane
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