Friday, October 10, 2014

Intelligence: did it evolve or was it there all along?

 
Claim: Intelligence evolved, there was none there to begin with.

Evidence:
(1) Intelligence currently exists.  All life forms are intelligent*.  That is, they respond to their environment and create and synthesize substances to promote their life and the life of their progeny.
(2) Life forms seem to have evolved over time from simpler forms 
(3) We are not aware of life forms having existed before 3.5 billion years ago

Assumption:
(1) Intelligence only works through physical organisms

Question:
How did intelligence first begin?

Further Questions (with some answers):
How does the unresponsive become responsive? (It wakes up)
How does the seemingly mechanical become creative? (It wakes up)
Can the truly mechanical become creative? (NO)
How does the apparently inert become alive? (It wakes up)
Can the truly inert become alive? (NO)

Can something with no capacity for consciousness wake up and become conscious?  (NO)
Can something with capacity for consciousness become more conscious? (YES)
How does something go from being unconscious to becoming conscious (It wakes up)

Did the universe have a capacity for consciousness before life forms became conscious? (Apparently so)
Was the universe in a "sleeping state" with regard to consciousness before life forms emerged?
Are life forms a way for the universe to wake up to itself?

What is driving this process?

Sharka Todd 

*An alternative and popular view is that all life forms are just complicated machines and that there is no intelligence or consciousness present to make a truly intelligent, creative decision within the life form.  In this case intelligence doesn't exist and is an illusion. For, without consciousness and creativity, everything is an unconscious machine, with only the appearance of intelligence.

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