We, the human, are intelligent. We thought that this is one of the abilities that make us different from other species. However, more an...
We, the human, are intelligent. We thought that this is one of the abilities that make us different from other species. However, more and more experiments show that many animal species can behave intelligently. Intelligence is not a unique property that belongs only to humans, but undoubtedly, our intelligence is much greater than any other animals possess. This means intelligence has levels. We have the highest intelligence on our Earth, but do we have the highest intelligence possible? Is there a maximum limit of intelligence? Does ultimate (meaning the highest level of) intelligence exist? Is it even possible? Can we, the humans, reach it?
First of all, what does intelligence mean? One definition, which rather describes than explains intelligence, is that it is the problem-solving ability. But what exactly is a problem? A problem is when there are two states that we want to connect, find, or create a relationship between, a relation that is unknown. Problem-solving is finding and/or creating this connection, creating the relation.
How does the brain solve problems, how does it search and find the connections between different states? For problem-solving we usually use knowledge, but sometimes it is just a random seek-and-find method. In either case, problem-solving needs interconnectivity in the brain.
What is problem-solving, meaning intelligence, then? A state of any kind represents a state of the brain as well. Therefore, intelligence is the ability to find a neural connection between the brain states, which represent the different states, the problem itself. So what is needed for intelligence? Complexity and interconnectivity. And this is what our brain, the human brain, excels among other types of brains.
The human brain is the most complex structure of any known system. We think that maybe it is the most complex structure in the universe. This is in fact probably an exaggeration, because theoretically more complex structures are possible. However, our brain is not only the most complex structure known. It also has a high level of plasticity, the ability to form and change itself, to create and modify connections between the brain cells. And these are the requirements for finding and creating relationships between different states, for solving problems, to be intelligent.
The human brain has reached the highest level of intelligence known, but is that the highest level of intelligence possible? If intelligence is measured by interconnectivity, then the highest level is when everything is connected with everything. Our brain may have this potential, where any neuron could be reached by any other neuron through connections, but how many connections are needed is an essential factor considering interconnectivity, considering intelligence. And our brain has a level, and a limit of that. This factor limits our level of intelligence. The farther the states are, the more interconnections are needed to connect them, meaning that there are fewer chances to find the connection, and the lower the intelligence is.
Our brain is a specialized computer, a product of evolution, created for our body, and for our environment. This is why it has a specific structure and dedicated wiring. We need this specialization and limitation; it helps with blending into our environment quicker. Still, our childhood, the learning period, is the longest in the animal world. Our brain needs the most time to adapt to its environment. And this is due to its plasticity. Our brain is an optimized machine between the original setup and the later optimization.
Our brain has two significant limits concerning intelligence: It has limits in size, how many processing units the brain has, and it has limits in interconnectivity, how many connections are needed to connect any neuron with any other neuron. This is how and why learning, in our case, raises general intelligence. Learning creates specific connections, but besides that, it generally creates synapses and raises interconnectivity as well.
What would be the ultimate intelligence? It would be a kind of system of potentially unlimited processing units, with any to any connections. This any to any connectivity, of course, refers to only potentiality and not actuality. The actual connectivity comes with the actual process of the system, with the actual learning and problem solving, with the actual interpretation, the understanding of the world.
What kind of system has this type of structure? The internet, for example, with computers in the nodes has this structure, has these properties of potential unlimited-ness with any to any connections. Or, this unlimited-ness with connectivity can be simulated by software in computers with potentially enough memory and processing power.
And yes, it is happening now. The artificial intelligence that we are creating in computers is conquering us in even the most complex environments like chess and go. Our superiority in intelligence is surpassed already, we have already created our intellectual superiority.
Are we, the humans left behind? This special, computer-based kind of evolution just started, and we still have some properties, which may assure our superiority, a type of free will and consciousness. However, we, the person, a lonely brain, do not have the potentiality of ultimate intelligence, and we are already surpassed in that field.
Are we left behind? Maybe not. It should not be a competition but a cooperation anyway, and still we have a chance to reach ultimate intelligence. The human as an individuum has limits, but the human society has the properties to achieve ultimate intelligence. There are no potential limits in quantity of the processing units (the people), and we can communicate with each other directly. There are many limiting factors on this communication, like understanding each other and thinking together, but we still have the potential to reach ultimate intelligence as a society. And we have a significant advantage (which can be a disadvantage too) compared to the computers. Our real processing units, our brains, are more complex, and this way can be superior compared to the microprocessors. This superiority might only remain for a matter of time, but maybe not. Why should and how could a microprocessor have free will or consciousness? The level of intelligence and free will and consciousness are not related. We still can conquer. Or perhaps these properties are just disadvantages to reach ultimate intelligence.
Another question without an answer is raised too, another thought about the scaling. What kind of intelligence can the networked individual intelligence create? Is it more intelligent, or is it another dimension of intelligence if it is networked as an ultimate intelligence? Is it a limitation of this scaling up?
Many of us think the God who created the universe has infinite intelligence. Does God's limitless intelligence work through this scaling up way, if he exists at all?
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