Intelligence (Origins)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Saturday, March 02, 2013, 07:08 (4067 days ago) @ dhw

Generally, we use "intelligence" to mean the ability to perceive, learn, understand, reason, think about things, make decisions etc. And we associate it with consciousness, which in turn we associate with self-awareness. This is the element I would like to eliminate from the concept I'm trying to develop. In the context of evolution, adaptation (microevolution) and innovation (macroevolution) require a mechanism that will perceive, understand and adjust to the demands and opportunities presented by the environment, and the adaptive element of the process also applies to the cells within our own bodies, which must adjust to temperature, illness, diet, exercise and every other changeable factor in our daily lives. I do not believe that the cellular mechanisms are self-aware, which is why I prefer "intelligent" to "conscious".
> -This is about as far I was able to get before my brain rebelled. :P The problem is not self-awareness, it is the ability to reason. -A cell would have to be self-aware, and to a certain extent self-analytical in order to be able to function. That is, it would have to be aware of its current internal state, its nominal internal state, and the current state of its environment in some limited form. If it wasn't, it would not be able to 'react' to its surroundings in order to develop anything beyond basic chemical reactions. Even computers have this ability in a very limited fashion. This is the bare minimum requirement necessary for something to adapt(vs. simple reaction) in any way, shape, or form. -In order for there to be any purposeful creativity of the sort needed for creating a higher order of life, you would have to add the ability to reason into the mix as well. The primary difference here being that reason reflects on past experience and current inputs in order to predict and thus change proactively absent any prior programming directing the proactive response. -We take for granted our instincts and those of animals. How did those programs originate? Natural selection is certainly not a viable option because for the most part there is no means for an instinct to be acted upon, and in the cases where there there is, the logical outcome of that action is generally negative or at best inconclusive. -For example, think about migrating birds. They do not migrate for a few miles, or even a hundred miles. They flock hundreds and thousands of miles every year like clock work, and they do it proactively(i.e. They leave BEFORE it gets to cold for them). There is no good explanation for how this behavior evolved; how this program was written. Without self-awareness, consciousness, AND reasoning the whole house of cards tumbles down. -If science says that these animals are not able to reason, then what reasoning consciousness DID come up with the program?

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.