Skip to main content

Questions tagged [intelligence]

The tag has no usage guidance.

2 votes
0 answers
31 views

The study of intelligence is an interdisciplinary field of study. What other academic fields, beyond philosophy, theorize/explore intelligence? [closed]

I have embarked on a project developing a unified theory of intelligence, based on the thesis that there is one essential form of intelligence - biological human intelligence (leaving aside the idea ...
2 votes
2 answers
240 views

How would the dynamics of discourse change if your interlocutor were a superintelligent being?

The problems I see here: The super-smart being might know so much more that humans feel they can't add anything useful to the talk. This being might find it hard to explain things simply, making it ...
1 vote
1 answer
80 views

How can we describe intellect in a way that relates to philosophical knowledge?

Is there any writing by philosophers specifically about the nature of intelligence/intellect and the way it relates to epistemology? For example, is someone who's 'smarter' more likely to have true ...
8 votes
6 answers
3k views

Who was the first philosopher to describe what we now call artificial intelligence?

Who was the first philosopher (e.g., Greek or pre-Socratic) to define or describe what we now call artificial intelligence? In your answer, first discusses the natural vs. artificial distinction (e.g....
10 votes
8 answers
4k views

Does the use of AI make someone more intelligent?

Does the use of AI make someone more intelligent? I think I remember this coming up in the SEP, with respect to whether access to the internet means I "know" (or similar) everything that ...
0 votes
4 answers
280 views

Are Life and Intelligence analogous?

Let me explain what I mean. From the standpoint of biology, life is often defined by having a metabolism, the ability to reproduce, evolve, etc. (There is no single definition so far as I can tell.) ...
0 votes
1 answer
49 views

Are there forms of judgment or intelligence which include the capacity to disobey?

Are there forms of judgment or intelligence which include the capacity to disobey? Ideally, AI will lack this, but then does that mean its intelligence is lacking anything?
1 vote
1 answer
43 views

What well-discussed alternatives are there to the Extended Mind Thesis?

The Extended Mind Thesis holds that we should consider "cognition" to include the process of using external cognitive tools (rather than only considering processes internal to our brain). ...
6 votes
8 answers
2k views

Will the use of AI reduce our capacity to think? [duplicate]

In light of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), there's a growing concern regarding its potential impact on human cognition. Individuals like Elon Musk; Nick Bostrom of the ...
8 votes
5 answers
698 views

Is subjectivity a deeply integral part of human intelligence? Why?

I believe that at its core, intelligence requires that some form of “good” or “bad” value judgments be made during the perception process. Values are the motivation behind an objective or goal. Values ...
5 votes
1 answer
169 views

How do philosophers understand intelligence? [duplicate]

How do philosophers treat the problem of defining intelligence? In particular, scientific, sociological and psychological contexts seem to picture intelligence in different ways. Do we have blindspots ...
7 votes
7 answers
4k views

How do philosophers understand intelligence (beyond artificial intelligence)?

Do philosophers have working definitions of 'intelligence'? The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a lot of references, but all of them are related to artificial intelligence and other ...
8 votes
5 answers
594 views

What is intelligence?

I am interested in studying AI, and I thought it would be a good idea to study the nature of intelligence before stepping into the field. I googled "books to read about intelligence", but it ...
4 votes
3 answers
138 views

Is every intelligence a collection?

Is every intelligence a collection? Obviously 'general intelligence' is a collection of abilities, a statistical entity that is a measure of ability "in general". What about musical ...
2 votes
3 answers
634 views

Is there a clear, objective difference between intelligence in the arts and the sciences? [closed]

Often, when referring to whether or not person A is "smart", discussion about Person A's political stance or their appreciation—or not—of art becomes part of the conversation. This leads me ...
0 votes
2 answers
51 views

Can we compare the skill or intelligence necessary to do an intrinsic good vs evil?

Can we compare the skill or intelligence necessary to do an intrinsic good vs evil? I was just thinking whether e.g. a skilled murderer can be compared with the skill of being a good mother. There ...
1 vote
1 answer
112 views

Defining intelligence [duplicate]

For over twenty years now I've been mulling over the following problem: how do you broadly define/measure intelligence? Probably someone has already said that (or come to the same conclusion) but here'...
3 votes
1 answer
262 views

Is wisdom one type of intelligence, or distinct from it?

I asked this question on the psychology stack exchange, but was told this would be a better stack exchange for it. I subscribe to the theory that there are multiple types of intelligence. Is wisdom ...
11 votes
4 answers
7k views

Is the SETI project built on false premises?

The SETI project analyzes signals and looks for patterns, some of which include prime number sequences that have an absurdly low improbability of occurring. It does this to detect intelligent life. ...
12 votes
8 answers
3k views

Is there a general theory of intelligence and design that would allow us to detect the presence of design in an object based solely on its properties?

There are many candidates for what could be considered to be an intelligent agent. Examples include humans, animals, aliens, AI (e.g. ChatGPT?), and supernaturalists would probably add angels, deities,...
0 votes
0 answers
53 views

What is the leading (most popular) account of intelligence amongst philosophers and/or artificial intelligence researchers?

I'm aware that AI systems are typically considered to be 'systems which act logically', but this is just a workable definition. I'm looking for something akin to a theory of intelligence. Something ...
13 votes
6 answers
6k views

Is there an ethical basis for killing less intelligent animals (as food) but not killing animals of higher intelligence?

I'd like to know whether morally there would be a difference between killing/hunting animals of higher intellect (apart from humans) and animals generally regarded of lower intellect. If there is no ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Did Adorno think the effects of mass culture were uniform, or universal?

Did Adorno think the effects of mass culture were uniform, or universal? In what way are its effects always the same? The intellectual enjoying a detective novel is meant to "escape his own ego, ...
2 votes
7 answers
711 views

How to define intelligence amongst animals [closed]

In the comments section of this article: Humans can recognize and understand chimpanzee and bonobo gestures, a few philosophical questions came up which have redirected me here. Could you please shed ...
6 votes
7 answers
3k views

Is mathematical creativity the same as artistic creativity?

Do philosophers distinguish between mathematical creativity, and the broader artistic creativity? If so, what are the differences between these two? A lot of people seem to treat IQ as something ...
3 votes
3 answers
301 views

Intelligence as a prerequisite for consciousness/sentience?

Google engineer Blake Lemoine recently made headlines by claiming that he thought Google's LaMDA conversational AI was sentient, based on his interactions with it. (E.g.: https://www.wired.com/story/...
3 votes
9 answers
351 views

Can an intellect judge itself?

Suppose you want to measure the length of something, e.g. the length of a kitchen table. It's not an easy task, but luckily you have a meter stick on hand! So you take your meter stick and make your ...
0 votes
1 answer
90 views

What is the view of the origin of language according to contemporary philosophy of language?

Do we think in the language we speak? If we didn't know any language or think of a child for an instant, perhaps a newborn, is there still thinking? and if so, is it a universal language? Some say we ...
-2 votes
4 answers
93 views

How would you answer when tasked with the estimation of a person's intelligence? [closed]

"She is so intelligent, right?" Well, to agree with such a statement, we would need to have a mutual understanding of intelligence, which we probably don't, since there are many different ...
2 votes
2 answers
473 views

Are levels of intelligence different levels of consciousness?

I just want to clarify that I do NOT think I have a more gifted mind than average. Not at all. However, I am very existential and often wonder about the nature of basic things. Anyway, one of my ...

15 30 50 per page