In my view human intelligence is being cracked open like a nut as we speak. It's a matter of decades - honestly, I think years - before all kinds of shit will h

In my view human intelligence is being cracked open like a nut as we speak. It's a matter of decades - honestly, I think years - before all kinds of shit will hit all kinds of fans. However, irrespective of the societal impact, intelligence is very interesting and there is a lot to be gained from decoupling it from the human form. I've handled this by looking at the (mis)usage of language. "Automatons", "pattern recognition", "statistics". These are words. And they all carry with them a palpable sense of dismissal, of a certain arrogance that I think is misplaced. Note: If you use these words fully egoless and objectively, great, that is excellent, but I don't think most do. If you'd start to regard intelligence in it's abstract, non-material, form as a "divine" gift to all "living" beings the picture starts to change. There is a very real, very deep sense of wonder to what is happening that gets lost whenever you call intelligence - biological or digital - "just pattern recognition" or something to that effect. You reduce the wonder that is intelligence to something you hold in your head as simple and reductionist. It is in that very moment you diminish it and make it non-interesting. It's like calling human embryos just a bunch of cells. It's not wrong per se, but it's said in a way that reduces the complexity of the system to ridiculous levels. Even without invoking metaphysical/religious beliefs you can imagine an embryo being a highly-complex physical system with astronomical levels of emergent properties that are effectively incalculable, for us at the moment if not at a fundamental mathematical level. If you look at machine intelligence like perhaps a small child would, full of awe and wonder, I bet your outlook on things can change. Humans are carriers of this "intelligence", they are not optimal and they are not alone. Who cares? Do we need to be the sole proprietors of intelligence in all its forms and shapes in order to be happy? I say enjoy the ride.