What makes us intelligent

 We have come a long way and have done a lot of things like building the particle accelerator, the rockets, to poetry and creating the Simpsons. This all have been possible by humans because we have extremely valuable thing- intelligence. It is not like our height or strength and if we try to define it then it becomes more complex.  In short it can be said that intelligence is the ability to solve problems especially relating to finding food and shelter or identifying a threat and reacting to it, in all basically solving the problems of life. It is the ability to learn and gather knowledge, to have a critical thinking, be creative and plan.

It can manifest in various way, from the ones which are hardwired within us as instinct like reactions to different levels of learning to having some sort of awareness. But there is difference in opinion among scientists as to where it begins and what should be counted as intelligence. Also it becomes more complex as it is connected to consciousness, as awareness is helpful in understanding and solving problems.

So intelligence is more of a flexible set of skills. It is like intelligence tool box in which the basic tools are the ability to gather information from surrounding, save them and learn from it and use them later. We gather information through our five senses which helps us to navigate and react to the surrounding environment in the best possible way. It has to monitor itself also for signs of hunger and fatigue. This information collection is the basic requirement for all living things otherwise we are at the mercy of our surrounding, as we will not be able to react properly.

Information can be better utilized if it can be saved, so the second tool will be the memory. Memory saves us from starting to learn everything all over again. We can pull out information as and when required. Memories can be in the form of remembering events, associations and skills. Some skills have to be repeated over and over until we master it. This is called learning. These three traits can make dumb looking animal do things which may seem impossible for them, that is do intelligent things.

The single celled slime mold when put in a maze with food at one end and a barrier in between, it can explore its surrounding and mark the path with invisible trails. It will avoid using the same marked trail until it finds its way to the food. So instead of hitting the barrier every time, it can now use its memory to avoid repeating the same path. This is hardwired in it but scientists can’t agree whether it is intelligence or not, but it surely gives it an advantage in saving time and energy.

Bees have more adoptive behavior. Scientists experimented with bumblebees by giving them colored balls to be put in a goal post in exchange for sugar. Though this behavior was not natural to them but with practice they became more efficient in doing it. When several balls were placed then the bees chose the one which was closest to the goal post even if that ball was not of the color they were trained with.

Now take the racoons, there food is human food. They have mastered how to handle the theoretical and practical problems. In an experiment they were given boxes to open which had different types of locks like the latches, bolts, push bars etc. Within 10 attempts they figured out how to open them. They even figured out increasingly difficult combinations. Even after a year they remembered how to do it.

The most important tool is the creativity. It means to produce something new and valuable from unrelated things. In addition to the memories and skills it is the ability to give additional input to solve a problem. It can be like applying a new resource to complete the task. Primates’ use sticks to take out termite from narrow holes in trees or octopuses can arrange coconut shells around it as armor to protect or hide itself from predators.

Something more advanced is the ability to collect things to be used later. Planning means to analyze the activities that will be required to complete a particular task or solve a problem. When faced with new possibilities and unforeseen circumstances, it is the ability to assess whether it matches its plan or not. An example of this is to hoard food for later consumption. Squirrels are a master in it.

 Though it may seem to be an instinctive behavior but what they do is that they examine every nut and weigh the pros and cons of the effort required to hide them. Damaged nuts are eaten right then and the nuts which are not ripe yet go to the stockpile. They also pretend as if burying nuts when being observed. This helps to deceive the other as to the location of the real treasure.

Sheep’s don’t have such tricks because they are grazers and live in flocks. Social skills are more relevant to them.  They remember their fellow sheep and the master and evolving complex skills which they don’t require is a waste of resources for them.

Next is culture that is working together in a group for a purpose. We all know of wolves hunting in a pack. Humans are the most advanced in this field. No single person can built a rocket or a sky scraper. But our ability to share knowledge across generations and work together makes all these things possible. This way we also have the ability to create new problems like the string theory, Sudoku and tax forms on one end and antibiotic resistance and climate change on the other.

Humans through there awareness can look beyond the short term goals but at the distant future of the race. This puts us in the top of the pyramid.