Intelligence.

[peter]

Off-shoot from another thread, can anyone explain to me what makes one person more capable of understanding complex ideas than another. We are not all born equal in our ability to say tackle advanced mathematics or play chess at ever higher levels, and try as we might sooner or later in these areas we will be surpassed by another person who has ostensibly the same apparatus for cognition as we do. Have we as yet any understanding of why there is a range of 'IQ' capabilities - is it that the deep structure of people's brains differ? Does the way the neural connections develop through infancy depend on determining factors (say range of exposure to different or more stimuli) that our parents control? Could I have been Stephen Hawking had my parents done their job differently, or was I always doomed to be Bozo the Clown by my genetics? Any ideas?

[Zarathustra]

I think we all emphasize those aspects of intelligence which makes us look the best. Someone who is good at math is going to stress that. Someone who has lots of common sense is going to stress that. Artistic, creative, etc. ... there are so many different kinds of skills that are special.

I personally think the most important forms of intelligence are those that help humanity pierce the veil of illusion and ignorance to get closer to reality. This can be mathematical, poetic, artistic--whatever. A transcendent view. Seeing the larger picture, rather than getting stuck in the mundane daily view. Seeing the ontological in the ontic.

I'm not sure what it is about brains that make some people smarter than others, but I think in terms of personality, it's those who have the most wonder for the world.

[peter]

It's very hard to separate out the nature vs the nurture inputs to intelligence as well as politically dodgy to even suggest there is any. This compounds with the problem of actually nailing down what it is anyway. The best definition is probably that of 'problem solving ability' but even this will be highly influenced by what you already know ( ie a carpenter all solve a carpentry problem better than a mathematician and a jungle dweller will solve a hunting problem better than both.

But (and here the question pertains to that considered 'in another place') do ten men with an IQ of 100 acting in concert have a higher collective IQ, or does such a synergy not occur and they still remain limited to the 100 level that each possesses individually. If the latter is the case then surely it will take more than the connectivity afforded by the internet for us to achieve our infinite potential? We would need to truly understand the basis of intelligence and begin devising methods to enhance our brains capabilities in these areas.

[Zarathustra]

People activing collaboratively are smarter. Even a lone genius like Einstein collaborated. It's the ideas/memes that are important. More brains means a faster meme evolution.