Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Distinguished careers in understanding intelligence confront me, a 
latecomer, in this new project. So the following are just a few comments on 
the logical-philosophical questions that I see on reading Yi-Xin Zhong's 
document. First of all, I will be talking only about natural intelligence:

1. Regarding the "nature" of intelligence. I see intelligence as primarily a 
potential, a term for the capacity of humans (and some animals) for action 
rather than an entity that can somehow be "produced" by brains. This 
potential nevertheless has a dynamic process structure. My justification for 
a process view is again the Latin roots: "inter-legere" = between + collect, 
gather = choose, understand. I am sure we would all be most interested in 
learning the corresponding derivation in Chinese!

2. The axis of movement, from Information -> Knowledge -> Intelligence (as 
potential or structure) seems to me to abstract from all three terms a) 
their process aspects (knowing vs. knowledge) and b) recursive aspects that 
are certainly implied, but I would like to see explicitly referred to. I see 
nothing wrong in saying, not to eliminate the given axis but to complement 
it, that Intelligence is a Potential (Capability) for Knowing that enables 
Informational Processes (Activities or Thinking in the sense of Wu Kun). All 
this would do is emphasize what the three concepts have in common rather 
than how they differ, in other words, the interactions between the reference 
processes.

3. My suggestion of a process view of intelligence is also an attempt to 
avoid its reification that may lead to reductionist notions of intelligence 
"measurement". We are all aware, I am sure, of the weaknesses of the 
"Intelligence Quotient (IQ)" approach.

4. These thoughts are just suggestions for further study of the relationship 
between information science and intelligence science that Yi-Xin outlines, 
especially, the strong concept of Comprehensive Information as a complex of 
form, content and value factors, and, presumably, their interactions.

Best wishes,

Joseph




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pedro C. Marijuan" <pcmarijuan.i...@aragon.es>
To: <fis@listas.unizar.es>
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Fis] INTELLIGENCE & INFORMATION (by Y.X.Zhong)


Dear Yixin and FIS colleagues,
(at fis discussions the costume is to use first names!)

Many thanks for your scholarly text. At first glance one can think that
you have multiplied the problems: we barely cope with the information
science discussion and now you ask us adding the scientific
constructions around another "unfathomable" term, intelligence. By the
way, it is interesting that in the origins of both terms for the Western
world (in Latin), there is a confluence in the same person: both were
coined by Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 1st century BC). So here we are,
following his very footsteps!

"Since an intelligence common to us all makes things known to us and
formulates them in our minds, honorable actions are ascribed by us to
virtue, and dishonorable actions to vice; and only a madman would
conclude that these judgments are matters of opinion, and not fixed by
nature."

The connection with nature is an essential point in the intelligence
discussion. I do not quite agree with the conventional sense of the term
"natural intelligence" as applied mainly to human thinking, as this
creates a barrier to properly ascertaining both the nature of
intelligence and intelligence in nature. On a personal basis, this very
topic (natural intelligence) is very dear to me: it became in early 80's
my leitmotiv to abandon professional engineering work and start a
scientific research confronting the arch-dominance of artificial
intelligence views. After the inevitable upheavals when you do not
conform to the rule, in 1989 I could present a PhD thesis entitled
"Natural Intelligence: on the Evolution of Biological Information
Processing" (in Spanish). To make a long story short, there appear
fascinating aspects when discussing the fundamentals of intelligence not
in machines or in people, but in living cells (and in primitive nervous
systems), with remarkable differences between the prokaryote and the
eukaryote ways of "intelligently" staying in the world. Advanced nervous
systems will come later on... and human social institutions become not
too far from the scope of this enlarged conception of intelligence.

I do not want to produce a longish message, so let me conclude this
first approximation to Yixin's text by fully endorsing his views, and
particularly his proposal on the fundamental axis
information-knowledge-intelligence, of course with quite many details
and nuances to introduce along the future exchanges. I am not sure about
the philosophical easiness of the discussion, but scientifically this
means a more coherent and more interconnected pathway: paradoxically, a
simplifying complexification. In next messages I will try to contribute
to the discussion with ideas from the cellular realm, and from the
perspective of nervous system evolution.

all the best

Pedro

PS.  Let me welcome to our list and to the current discussion-session to
prof. Krassimir Markov from the ITHEA Institute (International Journal &
International Society). This important scientific-technological
initiative is centered around "INFORMATION THEORIES AND APPLICATIONS".
See their web at:  http://www.foibg.com/   You are welcome, Krassimir!

-- 
-------------------------------------------------
Pedro C. Marijuán
Grupo de Bioinformación / Bioinformation Group
Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud
Avda. Gómez Laguna, 25, Pl. 11ª
50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Telf: 34 976 71 3526 (& 6818) Fax: 34 976 71 5554
pcmarijuan.i...@aragon.es
http://sites.google.com/site/pedrocmarijuan/
-------------------------------------------------

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