h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This post sort of implies that the only measure of evolution is intelligence. Perhaps thats why we're in such a mess.

How nice if our evolution were determined by how much happiness we could spread.

Your statement is about wisdom to me. *confused* I no way way equate intelligence to wisdom. They are seperate in my book,they may or may not overlap in an individual.

I'm yet to see a definition of intellegence (or wisdom) that isn't almost entirly subjective, or for a very specific purpose (though I have to admit I have seen very few attempts to define wisdom). The best I have seen so far is;
Russian Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers say that someone or something is intelligent if it gives intelligent answers to intelligent questions.
(taken from the Intelligence project A584525)

My personal view would be that intellegnce is a combination of a lot of things from perception to patience. Where as to be wise is the history of having been right (or closer to right) more than the majority of people the majority of times within the memory of the person making the judgement (on this basis I'll never be called wise ).

Math

interesting...thanks 4 the info. I never equated wisdom with a history of being right! Makes it sound like U would need followers. I guess defining wisdom, is similar to what is reality and beauty is to an individual.

The way I arrived at that conclusion was by thinking of someone who I thought of as wise and trying to decide why I thought that. Then broadening this to come up with a generalisation, after a number of rewords I was ready to share

Just a random thought;
Are evolving and getting more stupid mutualy exclusive, or could we manage both at once ?

Math
"Everybody knows the dice are loaded" Leonard Cohen

"Are evolving and getting more stupid mutualy exclusive, or could we manage both at once?"

Surely if we, as a species, are getting more stupid, then we *are* evolving. That is, we are getting less "intelligent" because our abilities to learn or think are decreasing. Becoming more stupid by not reaching our full potential (I hate that phrase, but I can't think of a better one just now) is a different thing.

~~A~~

Evolution gives not a tinker's cuss to intelligence, stupidity and for that matter ought else.

All that matters is that the genes are passed on successfully down the generations. The vessel is secondary. A good example would be the Dinosaurs which 'ruled the Earth' for the best part of 65 Million years withou any 'Intelligence' as we know it. They were, however, superbly adapted to their environment and adaptable within the prevailing climatic subset at the time.

Now the lower orders from Retroviruses up to insects have dene even better, and plants similarly.

Never did go forth and multiply carry more meaning.

turvy

I would define something as intelligent if an intelligent entity can't determinefrom its responces to questions whether it is an intelligent entity or not. IE a Turing Test. OF course, there is still the difficulty of deciding on an intelligent entity to administer the test.

Exactly. We are evolving and getting more stupid.

I'm sorry, but we are devolving, simply because the term ' survival of the fittest' no longer applies to the modern world. Wether we're getting more stupid is anotheer question.

Definition of fit - suitable for a given role.

In the context of survival of the fittest this means that genomes that produce more offspring as considered fitter. Stupid people often produce more offspring that they can support and this makes them more biologically successful.

As their environment supports these extra offspring for them they are being unwittingly cunning by taking advantage of it.

Untill eventually mankind kills itself, stupid people included.

The stupid people are generally content just to hang around so if they got in charge they wouldn't start nuking people.