What Exactly IS Intelligence? (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by romansh , Friday, August 27, 2010, 04:04 (4992 days ago) @ dhw
edited by unknown, Friday, August 27, 2010, 04:12

ROMANSH: By some definitions we can't be intelligent unless we have consciousness. Is this an assumption or is it simply part of a definition?
> 
> I had deliberately built consciousness into my definition, and since you had yourself concluded that "intelligence is deeply entwined with the concepts of consciousness" etc., I had assumed you would agree. And I also assumed you would agree that bricks were not intelligent. Clearly I should not make such assumptions. For you, intelligence is comparative:
> "I suppose I'm angling for a position where everything has an intelligence, but some things have a much better quality of intelligence, at least by our lights."
> 
I'm not sure what consciousness is, and perhaps we can replace it with a word like "awareness" but I can't help thinking consciousness is not quite what it seems.
> As we don't have any other lights to guide us, we can probably agree that you and I are more intelligent than bricks. 
Most days I would agree :joke:
>The view of the world you're presenting is not very far removed from that of BBella and of Frank (a process theologian), and so I will happily withdraw the word "silly" since we are moving onto a philosophical level beyond that of mere common sense. 
I'm not sure what we were discussing if it is not philosophy? Now last time I checked science is at least a part of philosophy? Ah and I personally would not appeal to common sense. I don't think any particular definition is right or wrong per se. The definitions we choose are just that. -So at which point do a sperm and egg move off the zero and become greater than zero during the development of a pre-zygote into a person? -> I'm afraid that won't bring us any closer to a definition we can both accept, but perhaps it might lead to a better understanding. 
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It is not whether I can accept a definition or not. It's more about understanding one another points of view. The good professor's definition leads to some interesting places. We don't have to hold them as gospel truth.
> If you don't have time to reply before you leave, have a good break, and thanks again for joining us.-Thanks :)-I noticed some comments on consciousness; so here is Susan Blackmore's observation on her personal consciousness. - Am I conscious now?
http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Books/Tenzen/question1.htm-I found this to be a reasonable approximation as to how I perceive consciousnss, though I did not try achieve consciousness all the time like Blackmore tried.-Also some of the answers posted here to me imply that we must have free will? Am I being intelligent in my observation?