Are you smart enough to get smarter? Pt. 1

What is intelligence?

Intelligence is the dynamic capacity for learning and adapting to one's evironment.

Intelligence is the constantly evolving community (collection / aggregate) of recursive processes for:

INPUT - perceiving information (messages) in one's environment,

PROCESS - transforming and integrating information (through memory, imagination, reason and interpretation of meaning, relevance and value) into knowledge, and

OUTPUT - applying knowledge to change one's environment (technology) or the transformative processes (thinking).

Ultimately, all intelligence is systemic since the OUTPUT of each PROCESS becomes the INPUT into other processes.

Learning is the transformation of information (input) into knowledge useful for predicting future events (output)

Knowledge = information + transformation (imagination, reasoning and idiosyncratic construction of meaning, relevance and value).

Technology is the application of knowledge to the environment

Innovation is the process of introducing new technology into an environment for use by others.

Creativity is the application of imagination to produce something new.

Reasoning is the systematic process of comparing facts (differences in information) to reach conclusions (motives, decisions, convictions).


Given these definitions, learning, knowledge, reasoning, imagination, creativity, innovation, fun, evolution and technology are sub processes of intelligence.

Other definitions of intelligence

Alfred Binet (1857-1911): The most important and fundamental faculty of intelligence is "judgment, otherwise called good sense, practical sense, initiative, the faculty of adapting one's self to circumstances. A person may be a moron or an imbecile if he is lacking in judgment; but with good judgment he can never be either. Indeed the rest of the intellectual faculties seem of little importance in comparison with judgment" (Binet & Simon, 1916, 1973, pp.42-43).

Hans Eysenck (1916-1997): Recognized three types of intelligence: Intelligence A: the biological substrate of mental ability, the brains' neuroanatomy and physiology; Intelligence B: the manifestation of intelligence A, and everything that influences its expression in real life behavior; Intelligence C: the level of performance on psychometric tests of cognitive ability

Ray Kurzweil (19??- ): Intelligence is "the ability to use optimally limited resources, including time, to achieve a set of goals (which may include survival, communication, solving problems, recognizing patterns, performing skills). The products of intelligence may be clever, ingenious, insightful, or elegant."

Renato Sabbatini (19??- ): Intelligence is the "ability to adapt effectively to the environment, either by making a change in oneself or by changing the environment or finding a new one" and "intelligence is not a single mental process, but rather a combination of many mental processes directed toward effective adaptation to the environment."

Six ways to increase intelligence

Increase the diversity of input (varieties of sensory perceptions)

Increase the diversity of transformations (multiple meanings / interpretations / metaphors)

Increase the diversity of output (expression / application)

Improve the conditions of the physical support systems (body, environment)

Remove or reduce the environmental factors which inhibit intelligence (labels, bureaucracies, etc.)

Increase the environmental factors which support intelligence (trust, communities, unpredictability, communication technologies, etc.)

On a side note

Bureaucracies are designed to reduce intelligence by limiting information (input) and conditioning pre-defined interpretations of value, authority and procedures (transformations) while increasing obedience and efficiency (output). Fixed hierarchies remain fixed through force (or threat of force = terrorism).

Natural hierarchies reflect the intelligence of a system by constantly changing, emerging and dissipating relative to the needs of specific situations.

Communities are designed to increase intelligence by presenting new information (input), discussing new perspectives (transformations) and offering new actions and tools for sharing, participating and fellowship (output).