Thread: What is Intelligence?

Please define intelligence.

ability to analyse, fastly, logically, the big picture of different things and make the right decision in the right time

I wondered about this once, and as I tend to do I first looked for other uses of the word for a clue. In the military intelligence means the gathering, storage and transmission of relevant information so it can be studied and used effectively. I think the exact same definition applies here.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

I wondered about this once, and as I tend to do I first looked for other uses of the word for a clue. In the military intelligence means the gathering, storage and transmission of relevant information so it can be studied and used effectively. I think the exact same definition applies here.

Would that make DNA a form of intelligence?

I would say intelligence is being able to store and process data in a specific manner. As that I would call, lifeforms, DNA as well as computers a form of intelligence.
Being more intelligent means to be better at processing information. It might be more fitting though to describe subcomponents like DNA or processors of a "sentient lifeform" something different like logic level though.
It just depends too much on how I see it for the moment to get to a conclusion.

If information is in the form of words, then DNA would be sentences. Not intelligence or intelligent, but rather a medium in which information is encoded and stored.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

If information is in the form of words, then DNA would be sentences. Not intelligence or intelligent, but rather a medium in which information is encoded and stored.

Well yeah, but did you ever see sentences rewrite or copy themselves according to the situation?

How do you distinguish a medium through which information is stored (and also utilized for action) and intelligence in itself?

Intelligence is the ability to comprehend the connections between things. Artificial intelligence is (as of now) out of our reach because we can tell a computer:

A) Rain makes you wet
B) Being wet is Bad
C) An umbrella keeps you dry

With this information the computer will never think to actually use the umbrella to keep itself dry in the rain. You would have to tell it straightforward to Use an umbrella when it is raining. This is because computers are unintelligent and cannot make the connection themselves.

On the human side, making connections within subjects, between seemingly unrelated subjects, between subjects and ones life (and so on and so forth,) is intelligence. The more connections you comprehend, the more intelligent you are.

Originally Posted by RebelSeven

On the human side, making connections within subjects, between seemingly unrelated subjects, between subjects and ones life (and so on and so forth,) is intelligence. The more connections you comprehend, the more intelligent you are.

Basically this.

It's being able to understand concepts and link those concepts, even though they may seem unrelated.

I see no difference between intelligence and creativity. As I define them in the same way.

Creativity is the same thing, except actually applying those connections you have made in to some form.
Whereas people usually think intelligence is just a high aptitude for figuring out those connections, helping you learn new things much more easily.

Originally Posted by RebelSeven

Intelligence is the ability to comprehend the connections between things. Artificial intelligence is (as of now) out of our reach because we can tell a computer:

A) Rain makes you wet
B) Being wet is Bad
C) An umbrella keeps you dry

With this information the computer will never think to actually use the umbrella to keep itself dry in the rain. You would have to tell it straightforward to Use an umbrella when it is raining. This is because computers are unintelligent and cannot make the connection themselves.

>Implying intelligence is inherent in something

If that was all the information available to a human, they would not be able to make the connection either.
Intelligence is about being able to learn. If you give something input and the ability to store and manipulate information to react to its input, intelligence is when it can learn from its mistakes. Assuming its environment can allow it to make mistakes.

Intelligence in standard English context refers to the individual's capacity to process information in any situation and deduce logical explanations and/or a response to said situation.

I don't see any motive for stretching a definition of a word any farther than I just did, as people have done before me. This thread asked a simple language question, and It has been answered.

Originally Posted by Dreams4free

Intelligence in standard English context refers to the individual's capacity to process information in any situation and deduce logical explanations and/or a response to said situation.

I don't see any motive for stretching a definition of a word any farther than I just did, as people have done before me. This thread asked a simple language question, and It has been answered.

Because that definition encompasses things which are not considered intelligence.

Originally Posted by Omnis Dei

Because that definition encompasses things which are not considered intelligence.

Look at what's common, everybody says intelligence is an ability. I think you are asking what intelligence is intrinsically, on its own. There would be no such thing as intelligence without being aware of it (or the ability) at the same time and so it draws back to the quality of awareness prior to the ability, which I guess is otherwise undefinable without relationships to the tangible world where it is applied or infused. If you hear about somebody who is remarked as merely "intelligent," you suppose he has some ability at something, but it's the meaning that has been brought out of that ability. Intelligent how is then the question. In other words...

Originally Posted by Omnis Dei

And as Stormcrow said, consciousness cannot be used as a necessary quality because it's impossible to define what has it and what doesn't since it's innately subjective.

...similarly, perhaps intelligence is closely related to what consciousness is, after all it seems nobody can "define" intelligence to your satisfaction; it comes across as subjective too, subjective as it is the holder or mediator of all objective qualities, not subjective as in personal opinion. By defining it we picture it in relation to "forms" of intelligence, which are only meaningful inside consciousnesses.

I suppose if we didn't have intelligence nobody could read a word of this thread, but we must know of that core of intelligence already, as it is present inside us. So can we really "define" it as we would like? Will an illiterate person be able to read and understand the question?


EDIT: Ok I'm just going to conclude this: Intelligence itself = consciousness itself! What is intelligent: the relationship between consciousness interacting with the world. Consciousness gives meaning to the world, consciousness makes humans "able"; intelligence is in abilities. People who make meaningful things (etc.) can be described as "conscious" and "intelligent". Ok but not all people are intelligent? Yes, in the same way not all people are as conscious as each other; i.e. that is concordant to the nature of consciousness.

/END THREAD

NEW THREAD: "What is consciousness" XD

Originally Posted by Omnis Dei

Because that definition encompasses things which are not considered intelligence.

To be crass, what the f**k are you talking about.

Intelligence is the individual's capacity to process information in any given situation and deduce logical explanations and/or a response to said situation.

that is intelligence.. what "things" do you think I am talking about when I say individuals. Every living organism that has the capacity to process information in any given situation and deduce logical explanations and/or a response to said situation is by the very definition an "intelligent" composition of matter, matter that must consist of hydro carbons.

how god damn specific do i need to be lol

Originally Posted by Dreams4free

Intelligence in standard English context refers to the individual's capacity to process information in any situation and deduce logical explanations and/or a response to said situation.

I don't see any motive for stretching a definition of a word any farther than I just did, as people have done before me. This thread asked a simple language question, and It has been answered.

Then why it is so widely spread, researched and argued topic in psychology?

I never defined consciousness in that excerpt, so I don't know why you used that passage Omnis Dei.... confused the shit out of me when I tried to write a response.

I've been talking about the consciousness of our actions, while you are concerning yourself with whether or not consciousness is possible without the self.

You want to say that robots and computers are conscious? Why not label the thread "Artificial Consciousness" instead of "Define Intelligence"

The ability to recognize patterns and solve problems.

Originally Posted by Invader

The ability to recognize patterns and solve problems.

Natural Selection is a form of Guess and Check problem solving, could you agree? How does an intelligent being solve problems? There is definitely a functioning logical system capable of making connections but this is really just another tool that's been naturally selected. It's not the only tool, we also come complete with an imagination function allowing us to test ideas out and follow them to their logical conclusions. But is this system, in itself, intelligence?

Sorry, I should have clarified. This is still based on how I understand intelligence and may not reflect the view of others:

Problem solving, when being done without prior knowledge of how to solve that problem, occurs when knowledge is being applied based on recognized patterns in the given information and can also include novel applications of prior knowledge. By this I mean that you can have two scenarios in which a problem is being solved. Problem A is one in which the method for solving is known but depends first on understanding the kind of problem it is (pattern recognition) such that this particular method can be applied. Problem B is one in which the method for solving is unknown, but based on the given information, relevant knowledge can be applied such that a novel method can be obtained.

Natural selection is a process that involves neither the recognition of patterns nor the application of knowledge to arrive at a solution. "Guess and Check" problem solving is a method that arrives at a solution by consequence of "random" behavior. That said, it is not what I would consider indicative of intelligence.

but this is really just another tool that's been naturally selected

Can you explain how that is significant?

Originally Posted by Invader

Can you explain how that is significant?

I'm just trying to piece this abstract concept together into something more definable. Your response was as valid as any other, I suppose.

As with many things, we have trouble defining intelligence because the word is based on an idea we get. A feeling we get when we meet different people, that they are on different levels mentally. We can define boundaries, but there are going to be exceptions, and we're going to find problems with any specific boundaries we set.

The ability to consciously gather and interpret information, and relate it to a multitude of other "things", scenarios, past experiences, and hypotheticals.

The "consciously" part is important in my definition, as a computer can gather and use information for a variety of things, but a computer without sentience/consciousness is simply a processing machine. Whatever is "intelligent" must be consciously aware that it is processing the information.

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

The ability to consciously gather and interpret information, and relate it to a multitude of other "things", scenarios, past experiences, and hypotheticals.

The "consciously" part is important in my definition, as a computer can gather and use information for a variety of things, but a computer without sentience/consciousness is simply a processing machine. Whatever is "intelligent" must be consciously aware that it is processing the information.

We cannot with any degree of certainty assert that other humans are capable of conscious subjective experience so how can you deduce that computers are not conscious?

Originally Posted by stormcrow

We cannot with any degree of certainty assert that other humans are capable of conscious subjective experience so how can you deduce that computers are not conscious?

I can't be 100% certain that computers are not conscious, but for the time being it's highly unlikely.