ARTelevision

A philosophical investigation into the nature and role of intelligence in the cosmos

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This thread exists as a constructive inquiry into the possible nature and role of intelligence in the universe. I am not a religious person and I do not see “intelligence” as having any connection to what has been traditionally called “god” in human cultures. Some of you may see it that way. That’s fine. It’s just that I don’t.

Also, the question as to whether this discussion has a direct connection to the current political football known as “Intelligent Design Theory” is moot here. This is not a political thread. Please refrain from comments that simply refute the intention behind the entire thread and the thread starter’s intention to create a space for the constructive discussion of the nature and role of intelligence in the universe – especially if your remarks are anti-religious or political in nature or if you see this as an unscientific investigation. This thread has nothing at all to do with whether ID should be taught in schools. This thread also has nothing to do with evolution or creationism. Those issues are being amply discussed in other threads.

What I’m trying to do here is to open up a constructive dialog. IMO, consciousness and intelligence are not adequately addressed by current science. I do think that the study of consciousness and intelligence has a scientific basis and the search for a scientific explanation for the role of intelligence in the universe is either a proto-science right now or it will be validated by scientific methods in the very near future.

This particular thread is speculative. If you want to refute, debate, or argue the points made here, please keep your comments in line with the intention of the thread. Thanks.

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An introduction to my particular view of the subject:

I see intelligence as an integral aspect of the universe. It is an active agent in that there is no way we can be sure that what we refer to, perceive, and measure is anything other than a function of our capacity to intelligently structure and order experience. It is not clear we can objectively measure anything, even with our instruments of measurement. This epistemological/ontological statement reflects current interpretations of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, as well as implications and interpretations of the Anthropic Principle that borrows from Vedic and Buddhist traditions as well as some western philosophical principles.

It is also not clear to me that intelligence is simply an end point achieved when matter reaches a certain degree of complexity. If intelligence is an integral aspect of the universe, as witnessed by its presence within it, it may serve as an integral ordering and structuring force in the most simple forms of matter and energy. For something to "appear" it must be present in some quantity and quality in the initial state. This is how I see it.

There are also questions as to the nature and direction of time that involve the definition of intelligence. It is certainly possible that intelligence is a pre-existing aspect of the universe, as traditional science has no explanation for what exists beyond the boundaries of the observable universe. At some point, science will probe the conditions that existed before the Big Bang, the boundary conditions of a steady-state universe, and the teleology of the currently observable universe. I’m interested in what may lie just outside of our currently demonstrable, testable, and provable notions – as they appear limited to a degree that they leave no room for the actual instrument that is doing the perceiving, ordering, and structuring of our observations and conceptions – the mind.

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