Post AwpUvurH4a2NIDBVAW by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AwpUvurH4a2NIDBVAW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T15:01:26Z
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"Intelligence is as intelligence does."There has been a bit of a row over on X about slime mold. "Stated Casually" a youTuber made a video showing that water can solve a maze in a similar way to slime molds. He seems to feel that those that say slime molds exhibit signs of intelligence are overhyping what is really going on and "confusing the public"But, I thought the entire point of such demonstrations was to deconstruct "intelligence" to highlight how it can be mechanical and emergent.
(DIR) Post #AwpVG9XqB7BudMkCcC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T15:05:06Z
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The conversation on X had something of a tone of a debunking session. Unfortunately, although many of the fun pop-science discussions have moved to the fediverse there are still a lot of people on X. And because many people have left there are many voices missing from the conversations there (and many missing here)I would love to join in the conversation but I don't think talking about how the concept of "intelligence" has been used to create arbitrary boundaries would be welcome.
(DIR) Post #AwpW1Wk7kJ8ABy4z1E by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T15:13:39Z
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@celesteh Writing a good definition of "intelligence" is very difficult and the word is used in very different ways depending on context. Sometimes I think the real definition many people are using (though they would not want to state it in this way) is that to be "intelligent" is to "experience and make decisions about the world in the way that *I* a human person does."And no one would propose that definition because it's not very useful and very limiting.
(DIR) Post #AwpX1pFB3mhfWeJJbM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T15:24:53Z
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@celesteh I'm always interested in examples of systems that do things that we think of as exclusively intelligent such as the strandbeest, slime mold, nest selection by ants*... because it brings the question into sharper focus. On the other extreme you will find people who have made up IQ scores for various breeds of dogs. (What does it MEAN?)*individual ants have intelligence, they can learn. But some of the most complex decisions are not made by individuals.
(DIR) Post #AwpXF2eKWsSUrpNT0q by jwcph@helvede.net
2025-08-04T15:27:16Z
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@futurebird @celesteh Sure - but if you replace "I, a human person" with "sapient agent", it's actually not a bad definition. I think another problem is that the word means very different things depending on whether it's intelligence viewed from inside or outside. By the above decision we can't be sure intelligence is present without directly or indirectly interrogating the agent - but things can certainly *look* intelligent regardless of source, including machines...
(DIR) Post #AwpXeX2OgSWCM0mzsu by mlohbihler@techhub.social
2025-08-04T15:31:54Z
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@futurebird @celesteh there was a post here once that have a downloadable list of something like 300 abilities that a honey bee has. Very fine grained. But I've started to believe that intelligence is not a single definable thing, but a long list of sometimes intertwining capabilities that improve an animal's adaptation.
(DIR) Post #AwpXz8HRvSKVeUeY8e by scottrossi@mastodon.social
2025-08-04T15:35:36Z
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@futurebird yes me too!! sorta like how corvid intelligence is dramatically changing the game!
(DIR) Post #AwpYGUnvR5eEQo7g92 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T15:38:47Z
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@scottrossi But how can they be intelligent with such small brains! It can't be true. etc. etc.
(DIR) Post #AwpZCaz8c6rWOf4Uhk by knowuh@mastodon.social
2025-08-04T15:49:10Z
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@futurebird @celestehYou might be interested in Braitenberg’s classic “Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology” (MIT press 1984)https://archive.org/details/vehiclesexperime00braiBeautiful thought experiments about complex emergent behavior from simple machines. So fun to read!
(DIR) Post #AwpZe2Kv1vzP2nLPJQ by iwein@mas.to
2025-08-04T15:54:10Z
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@futurebird brings to mind this quote: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/29/stephen-hawking-famously-said-intelligence-is-the-ability-to-adapt-to-change-but-did-he-really-say-it/But with that definition silicondioxide is quite intelligent as well: it can survive for a billion years by adapting to change by breaking apart. Just ask any grain of sand.@celesteh
(DIR) Post #AwphVYDZvPsUwyNLI8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-08-04T17:22:15Z
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@alienghic @celesteh *pointed single eyebrow raise*oh yes I agree