4 ms·

Isn't "intelligent life" just a function of time of "life"? I am reading the book "Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness" cu

Isn't "intelligent life" just a function of time of "life"? I am reading the book "Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness" currently and the book makes the case that intelligence and/or consciousness has evolved separately in mammals (humans) and cephalopods. The more I look at diversity and evolution of life on Earth, it seems like "intelligent life" as we know it is just a inevitable consequence of evolution, given enough time, perhaps.

maxxxxx 9y ago
Well adapted life is a consequence of evolution. Intelligence is not necessary to survive. I am not sure who the master of the planet is: us or ants? Both are incredibly successful but with totally different strategies.
- rbanffy 9y ago
  > Intelligence is not necessary to survive It's even debatable whether it is an asset.
  - kazinator 9y ago
    In fact, it can be argued that intelligence leads to low birth rates and population decline that extrapolates to eventual extinction.
    - maxxxxx 9y ago
      Or it leads to avoiding overpopulation and depletion of resources. I think the intelligent thing for us to do would be to limit ourselves to a certain population size and stop growing.
      - rbanffy 9y ago
        It would be lovely, but this hypothesis is not confirmed by our observation.
        maxxxxx 9y ago
        Ssems we are not as intelligent as we think :-)
        rbanffy 9y ago
        Either that, or intelligence is overrated.
        kazinator 9y ago
        Intelligence is overrated because non-intelligence lacked the faculties for contributing any offsetting negative ratings.
InclinedPlane 9y ago
"Intelligent life" as we know it requires multi-cellular heterotrophic organisms. That depends on an abundance of resources (energy et al) able to give rise not merely to life but to a robust ecosystem. Without enough ecological niches there aren't enough ways for life to diversify significantly. Without enough energy and other resources you won't have either the generation cycle time or the carrying capacity to enable evolution of "advanced" multi-cellular life. There are environments on Earth that support life but could not support the development of intelligent life, they just lack the resources to do so. That might be true for some environments throughout the Universe as well. There might be places where some life can survive but is constrained from advancing beyond simple single cellular organisms due to lack of resources.

maxxxxx 9y ago

Well adapted life is a consequence of evolution. Intelligence is not necessary to survive. I am not sure who the master of the planet is: us or ants? Both are incredibly successful but with totally different strategies.

rbanffy 9y ago
> Intelligence is not necessary to survive It's even debatable whether it is an asset.
- kazinator 9y ago
  In fact, it can be argued that intelligence leads to low birth rates and population decline that extrapolates to eventual extinction.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    Or it leads to avoiding overpopulation and depletion of resources. I think the intelligent thing for us to do would be to limit ourselves to a certain population size and stop growing.
    - rbanffy 9y ago
      It would be lovely, but this hypothesis is not confirmed by our observation.
      - maxxxxx 9y ago
        Ssems we are not as intelligent as we think :-)
        rbanffy 9y ago
        Either that, or intelligence is overrated.
        kazinator 9y ago
        Intelligence is overrated because non-intelligence lacked the faculties for contributing any offsetting negative ratings.

InclinedPlane 9y ago

"Intelligent life" as we know it requires multi-cellular heterotrophic organisms. That depends on an abundance of resources (energy et al) able to give rise not merely to life but to a robust ecosystem. Without enough ecological niches there aren't enough ways for life to diversify significantly. Without enough energy and other resources you won't have either the generation cycle time or the carrying capacity to enable evolution of "advanced" multi-cellular life. There are environments on Earth that support life but could not support the development of intelligent life, they just lack the resources to do so. That might be true for some environments throughout the Universe as well. There might be places where some life can survive but is constrained from advancing beyond simple single cellular organisms due to lack of resources.