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Human intelligence is really a global phenomenon, not just an individual phenomenon. A lot of people outsource intelligence and specialize in labor or beauty.

Human intelligence is really a global phenomenon, not just an individual phenomenon. A lot of people outsource intelligence and specialize in labor or beauty. even intelligence requires so much specialization. Humans are a mixture of experts.

api 3y ago
A physical laborer or pretty person who relies on those traits could generally switch and learn to code or run a business if pressured (either by desire or need) to do so. We specialize but we all have similar brains. The last point about IQ at the very end of the article is a thought I’ve had before and is a reason I remain skeptical of the importance assigned to IQ by many. IQ seems to be a real measure of something but the variance both within and between people and the way that variance behaves is sus. I think there’s something more complex going on with IQ, probably more than one thing.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  My theory having studied this for a long time is that higher IQ simply means that you have the ability to forecast further into the future with higher accuracy on a variety of things. Conceptualized differently the “simulator“ in your brain that hallucinates futures is more accurate for smarter people than it is for let’s say less capable people. And some people don’t seem to have a simulator at all. The more things and further into the future you can forecast the “smarter” you are. I find this compelling because exceptionally smart people also seem to have exceptionally different ways of interpreting the future and also our more likely to hallucinate stuff that is totally false or incoherent. This is why you often see “geniuses” in the physical sciences struggle with social things. The same as true people who are geniuses, socially often struggle, with other concepts outside of their narrow expertise, but are generally better and faster at learning or at least pretending better than other people with lower IQ at those general things.
  - snapplebobapple 3y ago
    Don't geniuses also tend to score better on stuff like reaction times as well though, rout calculation, etc though?
    - AndrewKemendo 3y ago
      Yeah and are generally more creative overall enjoying mastering another fine art of some sort different than their line of work
LoganDark 3y ago
A lot of humanity hasn't achieved intelligence very well. Chance and neurodivergence causes enough intelligence for the rest of humanity to reap the benefits, but a lot of people are sort of dumb. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and those people still deserve to live happy lives, of course!
- bbor 3y ago
  I think you’re defining intelligence too strictly, and in relation to work (probably). Consider how much shared intelligence is present in your Culture, and how complicated the social rituals inevitably become. Humans are inherently damn smart, IMO
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    > in relation to work I can't work very well at all, but I still notice that many people just live by "ignorance is bliss" to the point where they almost try not to know anything. They don't want to know why anything works the way it does, they don't ever reflect on themselves or their actions, they don't ever perform much introspection or anything. It's almost like they operate purely on instinct. Is there a name for this phenomenon?
    - bbor 3y ago
      Bad epistemic practices/preferences/strategies. Or just “burnt out” lol
      - LoganDark 3y ago
        IME, it seems to be sort of a pathological thing and not just burnout? When you burn out, you still know everything you've learned, but some people just are not self aware, do not care about it, and do not want to know how things work or why. The sort of people who will throw a fit if a software update moves a button, because they semingly don't have the knowledge or intuition to spend 10 seconds finding where it went. This baffles me, because I know plenty of neurotypical people who can do this, so it's not like it's a neurodivergence thing, it's just that some people seemingly are not curious about the world and do not even understand how to seek knowledge. Maybe this is an education issue? Back when I was in school, they never taught me how to learn, they just wanted me to memorize things and then repeat them back. I don't know how that would explain the difference though, since plenty of neurotypicals are served "well enough" by school. Comparing my own experiences is sort of a slippery slope since I'm neurodivergent myself.
plastic3169 3y ago
Not an expert by any means but aren’t humans pretty much all similarly intelligent. There are geniuses of course but almost everyone knows the hard stuff of surviving, speaking, interacting, using tools etc. The logical thinky stuff that operates on top of the mind is pretty shallow part of the whole. Like Usain Bolt runs a lot faster than me, but hey we both run so I would argue I am 95% of his performance level even though it takes twice as long for me to go 100m. I have not outsourced running to him.
- jampekka 3y ago
  This is a good insight. People tend to compare capabilities to other people, but these differences are really minor when comparing e.g. cross species or to machines. E.g. Magnus Carlsen will beat me every time in chess, but compared to Stockfish me and Magnus are roughly on the same level.

api 3y ago

A physical laborer or pretty person who relies on those traits could generally switch and learn to code or run a business if pressured (either by desire or need) to do so. We specialize but we all have similar brains. The last point about IQ at the very end of the article is a thought I’ve had before and is a reason I remain skeptical of the importance assigned to IQ by many. IQ seems to be a real measure of something but the variance both within and between people and the way that variance behaves is sus. I think there’s something more complex going on with IQ, probably more than one thing.

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
My theory having studied this for a long time is that higher IQ simply means that you have the ability to forecast further into the future with higher accuracy on a variety of things. Conceptualized differently the “simulator“ in your brain that hallucinates futures is more accurate for smarter people than it is for let’s say less capable people. And some people don’t seem to have a simulator at all. The more things and further into the future you can forecast the “smarter” you are. I find this compelling because exceptionally smart people also seem to have exceptionally different ways of interpreting the future and also our more likely to hallucinate stuff that is totally false or incoherent. This is why you often see “geniuses” in the physical sciences struggle with social things. The same as true people who are geniuses, socially often struggle, with other concepts outside of their narrow expertise, but are generally better and faster at learning or at least pretending better than other people with lower IQ at those general things.
- snapplebobapple 3y ago
  Don't geniuses also tend to score better on stuff like reaction times as well though, rout calculation, etc though?
  - AndrewKemendo 3y ago
    Yeah and are generally more creative overall enjoying mastering another fine art of some sort different than their line of work

LoganDark 3y ago

A lot of humanity hasn't achieved intelligence very well. Chance and neurodivergence causes enough intelligence for the rest of humanity to reap the benefits, but a lot of people are sort of dumb. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and those people still deserve to live happy lives, of course!

bbor 3y ago
I think you’re defining intelligence too strictly, and in relation to work (probably). Consider how much shared intelligence is present in your Culture, and how complicated the social rituals inevitably become. Humans are inherently damn smart, IMO
- LoganDark 3y ago
  > in relation to work I can't work very well at all, but I still notice that many people just live by "ignorance is bliss" to the point where they almost try not to know anything. They don't want to know why anything works the way it does, they don't ever reflect on themselves or their actions, they don't ever perform much introspection or anything. It's almost like they operate purely on instinct. Is there a name for this phenomenon?
  - bbor 3y ago
    Bad epistemic practices/preferences/strategies. Or just “burnt out” lol
    - LoganDark 3y ago
      IME, it seems to be sort of a pathological thing and not just burnout? When you burn out, you still know everything you've learned, but some people just are not self aware, do not care about it, and do not want to know how things work or why. The sort of people who will throw a fit if a software update moves a button, because they semingly don't have the knowledge or intuition to spend 10 seconds finding where it went. This baffles me, because I know plenty of neurotypical people who can do this, so it's not like it's a neurodivergence thing, it's just that some people seemingly are not curious about the world and do not even understand how to seek knowledge. Maybe this is an education issue? Back when I was in school, they never taught me how to learn, they just wanted me to memorize things and then repeat them back. I don't know how that would explain the difference though, since plenty of neurotypicals are served "well enough" by school. Comparing my own experiences is sort of a slippery slope since I'm neurodivergent myself.

plastic3169 3y ago

Not an expert by any means but aren’t humans pretty much all similarly intelligent. There are geniuses of course but almost everyone knows the hard stuff of surviving, speaking, interacting, using tools etc. The logical thinky stuff that operates on top of the mind is pretty shallow part of the whole. Like Usain Bolt runs a lot faster than me, but hey we both run so I would argue I am 95% of his performance level even though it takes twice as long for me to go 100m. I have not outsourced running to him.

jampekka 3y ago
This is a good insight. People tend to compare capabilities to other people, but these differences are really minor when comparing e.g. cross species or to machines. E.g. Magnus Carlsen will beat me every time in chess, but compared to Stockfish me and Magnus are roughly on the same level.