By ANDY ANDREWSLos Alamos World Futures Institute
In the previous three columns we looked at data, information and knowledge, noting data and information is the stuff that is “out there” and knowledge is th stuff that we have internalized be it in our brains or encoded in our bodies.
Last time I concluded that it incorporates the who, what, when, why and where of right and wrong and the conscious and unconscious decisions we make. But the “how” is part of intelligence, the ability of applying knowledge and taking action, making decisions, and perhaps discovering new knowledge for humankind. I should add personal knowledge also.
All living things have intelligence, both plants and animals. It is encoded in their systems. Your brain reacts to sensors in your body and issues corrective signals, hopefully, to make adjustments. It is responding to information, whether you are aware of it or not. It is making decisions of “how.” Non-human animals do this also. A wild animal uses its brain in hunting or choosing other foods to eat in order to survive. Microbes have intelligence too. Likewise, plants are preprogrammed for existence, perhaps to follow the sun or go into hibernation as the weather changes. But, one might ask, can they learn, change their knowledge, and adapt based on new information or data? And how about machines? Can artificial intelligence really be created?
In the domains of philosophy and psychology, intelligence has been debated and studied for a long time, at least in our “modern” time scale. Today the primary domain for the exploration of intelligence is psychology and in the early 1900’s the first modern attempts to measure human intelligence emerged. Unfortunately, however, intelligence is an abstract concept and we, as humanity, have not been able to establish precise measurement standards in contrast to physical things such as mass and energy. But we have tried.
In 1905, the Binet-Simon test was published that focused on verbal abilities. In World War One, the United States Army needed a way to evaluate very large quantities of recruits (1.75 million were tested) in order to sort them for assignments based on mental capacity to do specific jobs. What evolved, and is still evolving, is the Intelligence Quotient or IQ test. Theoretically, you could sort a population for work or other distribution based on “smarts.” Is this Brave New World? For completeness, the IQ value is a person’s mental age score (from a test) divided by the person’s chronological age, times 100.
In society today the concept of sorting and ranking people meets with a lot of negative response. If all people are created equal, using intelligence to sort them implies inequality. Yet we have populations where there are rich and poor, leaders and followers. This is a natural outcome of competition and as long as the rules are agreed, everyone can be considered to have an equal chance except as limited by factors beyond societal control or Malthusian medicine. Yet today we hear continually that the societal rules are causing inequality and need modification.
And in a democracy this is accomplished by all of the people, at least those who want to participate.
The tough part comes in understanding the issues that must be resolved, evaluating the data and information available, and applying one’s knowledge. This takes intelligence, the capacity to apply your knowledge. But knowledge encompasses you true and justified beliefs. You continually acquire knowledge from data and information you constamtly receive, whether it is actually pursued or it just happens to come your way. But it takes intelligence to assess truth and justification and then alter your knowledge or not.
In my experiences I have always heard the term “nature or nurture” in arguments about human capacity to do things. You may have been born with the genes to become a start athlete in your (pick the) sport, but if you do not get the right food, the right training, and the right opportunities, it will not happen. Clearly is takes both nature and nurture, but what is the proper balance and how is it measured and controlled?
At birth our intelligence cannot be measured, at least with today’s tools.
When I look at the definition of IQ described above, at zero age your intelligence is infinite but immediately starts dropping. How far it drops is controlled by the genetic structure of the DNA and the nurture the new human will receive. Obviously, after birth, nurture is what we control, not assuming that medical advances will not occur.
From my perspective, as a society, in my case the United States, we want our children to become intelligent and knowledgeable citizens able to continue and grow our country. This means we need to nurture them with both nutrients and knowledge. We need to feed and educate them. But can education improve their intelligence? Are we teaching them to think or merely implanting knowledge? And what knowledge and skills are we providing, are they true and justified beliefs?
What is education?
Til next time….
The Los Alamos World Futures Institute website is at LAWorldFutures.org. Feedback, volunteers and donations (501.c.3) are welcome. Email andy.andrews@laworldfutres.org or bob.nolen@laworldfutures.org.
Previously published columns can be found at https://ladailypost.com or https:////www.laworldfutures.org.
