Human intelligence.

[flobadob]

We as humans regard ourselves as intelligent beings and in fairness mankind has accomplished some amazing feats. However when you think about it, how many people have been involved in these amazing feats like space travel, the internet, television, mobile phones etc. etc? Not that many I would assume. The vast majority of mankind has no input whatsoever into these amazing feats, we simply use the technology and as a species accept the credit.

Do most people really have a right to claim to be an intelligent being and take any credit for being part of these times when they actually contribute little to humankinds advancement?

Who are these individuals who are advancing our world so rapidly, and where would we be without them?

[Greedyfly]

I wouldn't consider myself as an intelligent being. I have contributed nothing to the world so far. You never know though.

[rowanwitch]

It depends on how you regard intelligence inventiveness, level of education or there is now the option of emotional intelligence.... it may be that not everyone is a Dyson or whatever ....IQ has been generally devalued as far as I can tell but is someone with an IQ of 150 more likely to be a contributor than someone with a lower one (138) with a PHD working in a lab developing anti viral drugs... Not a hugely convincing argument but if I know of one example it is hardly likely to be the only one out there

[jake-the-peg]

A lot of this stuff is a group effort.

I guess I was a very small part of one of the ongoing ones - I spent a couple of years working as a physicist on nuclear fusion experiments for the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Who know how many thousands of similar people played their small part in sequencing the human genome or putting men on the moon

You might be surprised

[sandyRoe]

Haven't all the great achievements of mankind been reached by people 'standing on the shoulders of giants'?

[jake-the-peg]

Yes, but some have been individual efforts based on prior knowledge

Newton's Gravity, Einstein's relativity

Others have been team efforts with tens or even thousands of people contributing to that specific project.

These days experimental science in subjects like physics tend to be of the latter type because of the expense and complexity of the equipment involved.

It is still possible for individuals to make breakthroughs in areas like Astrononmy as telescope time can be allocated to quite small groups or individuals.

You don't get to book individual time on the Large Hadron Collider

[flobadob]

Yeah jake, but even if 10,000 people work on the LHC what % of people is that? Like, if you remove the great names from history, Einstein, Newton, Gervais, etc. would someone else have taken their place, or are they just faces given what was essentially a larger group effort?

[LazyGun]

I think there is a false equivalence in your intial post, flob. Your examples of intelligence are reserved for the truly outstanding or amazing feats. That does not seem a fair distinction to me. I would suggest that virtually all forms of human endevour require the application of intelligence, problem solving, tool use, adaptation etc.

Throughout history there have been a small band of stand out genius types that help propel humanity forward - but thats the exception, not the norm.For every Einstein, there are millions of normal types beavering away in all fields of thought, who refine and improve existing knowledge and/or technology by very small increments, improving life for everyone whilst paving the way for the next flash of inspiration.

Your dismissal of the majority of humanity as unintelligent seems a bit harsh to me ;)

[chakka35]

I think it's a bit restricting to label it intelligence only if it leads to great achievements, wonderful as they are. Strictly speaking, intelligence is the ability to understand (Latin: intelligere), whether that understanding is put to use or not.

An idle fellow who lies in bed all day doing Times crosswords (the cryptic ones, of course) and mathematical puzzles, reading books on difficult subjects and analysing Hamlet is using intelligence in a way that a cockroach or a camel cannot.

[mollykins]

I consider mankind to be an intelligent species but within that species there are people who are genii and others who are barely more advanced than the chimps we are decended from

[Ankou]

flob, are you talking about us as a species or as individuals ?

[flobadob]

I suppose what I mean is that as a species I think we think a lot of ourselves, whereas a lot of the things we take for granted, and just accept as being a result of our superior minds, would not actually exist but for a few individuals.

[Ankou]

oh no, there are certainly a few individuals on here who think a lot of themselves.

the rest of us know better.

[Old_Geezer]

Intelligent compared to what or whom ?

I've been involved in some of your list so I guess I must be an undiscovered genius.

[Ankou]

old geez, was you an astronaut ?

[Old_Geezer]

That's the one. First chimp in space.

[naomi24]

Flobadob, there are millions of ordinary people who appear to do nothing extraordinary with their intelligence, but where would the space programme, or advanced medical techniques be without those who work in factories making the necessary equipment? We can't all be Einstein, but in my opinion the dustman or the cleaner is an important and essential contributor to our civilisation and his worth should never be under-estimated or undervalued.

[chakka35]

Well said, naomi.

mollykins, we are not descended from chimps.

[mollykins]

Apes then, I thought chimps were a kind of ape, anyway I'd forgotten the word ape and chimp was the closest I could think of, or were you disagreeing because you don't believe in evolution?

[Ankou]

first chimp in space og, pah, weren't you just ....

...simply use the technology and accepting the credit...?

its not like you invented the steel and the machine that made the washer that held the bolt that connected the spindle that ran through the shaft that rotated the rotor that pushed the valves that pushed the pistons that created the compression that created the thrust that powered the jets that lifted he craft and guided it into the sky now is it. come on, its not rocket science....

big up for the intelligent washer guy, whoop whoop.

[naomi24]

Molly, Man didn't evolve from apes. Man and ape both evolved from a common ancestor.

If Chakka were dead he'd turn in his grave at the very suggestion that he may not believe in evolution. Fortunately though, he's very much alive and kicking. :o)