Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - A philosophical investigation into the nature and role of intelligence in the cosmos

tiberry · 12-20-2004, 02:51 AM

Let's see:

A quick search of dictionary.com yields the following relevant definitions:

in·tel·li·gence ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-tl-jns)
n.

1. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

2. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, especially toward a purposeful goal.
An individual's relative standing on two quantitative indices, namely measured intelligence, as expressed by an intelligence quotient, and effectiveness of adaptive behavior.

3.The ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations b : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests)

This seems to significantly narrow the field of discussion in terms of "universal properties" in that according to these definitions such inherent properties such as gravity, magnetism, the "weak force", etc. should not be construed as signs of intelligence at work. Most only consider those actions that apparently have an "active" component, or an observable effect (whether manifest as a physical interaction or a simple thought) based on a given set of stimuli. Such actions are primarily attributed to "intelligence".

BUT - (good thing this is the philosophy thread!) whose to say that magnetism isn't an "intelligent" reaction to some set of stimuli? Because we are extremely limited in our frame of reference and our preconceived notion that the observable effects of magnetism are an inherent "property" of the universe - how can we be sure that it isn't an INTELLIGENT reaction on the part of some entity (not necessarily a god figure)? Would we say that trees that have evolved the little helicopter seeds an act of intelligence? Why or why not?

Just because we can't from our frame of reference observe the so called "intelligence" at work shouldn't be construed as an absence of intelligence...

I rather like the idea that intelligence is THE single fundemental property of the universe, and that ALL observable phenomena are the direct product of intelligence.

12-20-2004, 02:51 AM	#34 (permalink)
tiberry Insane Location: Location, Location!	Let's see: A quick search of dictionary.com yields the following relevant definitions: in·tel·li·gence ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-tl-jns) n. 1. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. 2. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, especially toward a purposeful goal. An individual's relative standing on two quantitative indices, namely measured intelligence, as expressed by an intelligence quotient, and effectiveness of adaptive behavior. 3.The ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations b : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests) This seems to significantly narrow the field of discussion in terms of "universal properties" in that according to these definitions such inherent properties such as gravity, magnetism, the "weak force", etc. should not be construed as signs of intelligence at work. Most only consider those actions that apparently have an "active" component, or an observable effect (whether manifest as a physical interaction or a simple thought) based on a given set of stimuli. Such actions are primarily attributed to "intelligence". BUT - (good thing this is the philosophy thread!) whose to say that magnetism isn't an "intelligent" reaction to some set of stimuli? Because we are extremely limited in our frame of reference and our preconceived notion that the observable effects of magnetism are an inherent "property" of the universe - how can we be sure that it isn't an INTELLIGENT reaction on the part of some entity (not necessarily a god figure)? Would we say that trees that have evolved the little helicopter seeds an act of intelligence? Why or why not? Just because we can't from our frame of reference observe the so called "intelligence" at work shouldn't be construed as an absence of intelligence... I rather like the idea that intelligence is THE single fundemental property of the universe, and that ALL observable phenomena are the direct product of intelligence. __________________ My life's work is to bridge the gap between that which is perceived by the mind and that which is quantifiable by words and numbers. Last edited by tiberry; 12-20-2004 at 02:54 AM..