Intellectual Irrelevance and Judgement Day

H was sent this article by a friend of mine. I liked it for a couple of reasons that I will discuss here. The first reason relates to the Myth post I made last week. In step 1 and 2 of theory and model generation, data acquisition and assimilation were of paramount importance. Since there is so much data transmitted through the Internet, the fact that each search engine filters that data is a different manner can certainly taint the validity of any theory that is generated based on that information. I'm not sure that this is a mortal issue, but it certainly bears keeping in mind. The second reason is the discussion on what it means to be "smart", and how electronics and technology are blurring that line. The specific example of math and calculators is a good case study. I think that this helps to expose intelligence myths for what they are. If a simple "dumb" (i.e. non-sentient) microchip can out-perform the smartest people in arithmetic, then it should follow that arithmatic excellence is not a good measure of true intelligence. The same can be said of memory. Native intelligence is something that is much more difficult to define. I have some personal experience in this area. I am a member of American MENSA - something that I have not mentioned here before primarily because I don't see it as particularly important or relevant. the fact that I performed better than 98% of the rest of the thinking world on a particular examination does not say much about my natural intellect. Knowing how to solve logic puzzles and identifying Latin roots in words I have never seen says more about my test-taking skills and my training than about my fundamental brain functionality. The traditional measures of intelligence - scholastic performance, recall memory, etc. - are embarrassingly superficial and incomplete. the reason that these measures exist at all is to absolve the rest of the world from having to make any actual effort to understand a person's capabilities. We look at scholastic records and test scores to create an instantaneous description of the intelligence - and therefore the value - of the person in question. The impact of the destruction of these antiquated intellectual measurables is significant because it will slowly create an environment where is increasingly difficult to define human intelligence, and to explain how it differs from data manipulation. I believe that this is ultimately good for people, because in the face of "smarter" electronics, the native intelligence of humans will become more and more important. Many current jobs that require "smart" people could be eventually replaced by computer programs. At this point, only true human intelligence will leave people with skills that a computer cannot duplicate. When this happens, new measurables will be needed to reflect this native intelligence. These new measures will be less susceptible (but not completely immune) to the detriments of education that plague the current measurement system. This will result (I hope) in a better, and more equitable education for all. Either that, or Judgement Day will come, and we'll all be running from the Terminators.