what is intelligence?

[Guille]

this knowledge that is born with is also called basic instinct.

True, I meant that.

[subversion]

Thinking ability is the use of these (interaction).

thinking, i.e. consciousness, is interaction, i.e communication.

consciousness = community

[Guille]

thinking, i.e. consciousness, is interaction, i.e communication.

consciousness = community

True, now I see that mind is actually "processing data" (thinking) which is interaction between the neuronal network community.

[Mr. Nobody]

Please forgive me if it has been said before. I did not read through the entire thread. But it is my sincerest belief that intelligence is nothing more than adaptation of the human ape gone awry. We are the observer, the universe, trying to explain the universe.

[JAK]

...
it is my sincerest belief that intelligence is nothing more than adaptation of the human ape gone awry.

Why "gone awry"?

We are the observer, the universe, trying to explain the universe.

Please clarify. Thx.

[Mr. Nobody]

Gone awry, because intelligence has outlived its purpose of adaptation to environmental pressures, when it asks or is preoccupied with fundamental questions of reality, which may not have a solution nor serve the species survival. Furthermore, current conditions indicate that it seem to have created an unsustainable imbalance. This imbalance may proof, that intelligence in the long run, did not contribute to the survival of the fittest but was another evolutionary dead end or curiosity. The cockroach wins.

We are the universe, because we evolved from within the universe. It is like a cell (you and me) of the human body (universe) trying to explain the purpose and reason of that body.

Anyways, that is just how I see it

[JAK]

Gone awry, because intelligence has outlived its purpose of adaptation to environmental pressures, when it asks or is preoccupied with fundamental questions of reality, which may not have a solution nor serve the species survival. Furthermore, current conditions indicate that it seem to have created an unsustainable imbalance. This imbalance may proof, that intelligence in the long run, did not contribute to the survival of the fittest but was another evolutionary dead end or curiosity. The cockroach wins.
...

I'm not quite ready to concede the futility of intelligence. If our planet is destroyed in the future, any cockroaches that survive will be on board one of our spaceships. In the meantime, our quest for more knowledge (fundamental questions included) provides the only potential for us to create such a spaceship in the future and to know where to direct it to safety. (Such safety may come from "terra-forming" Mars over the next 1000 years.)

[Mr. Nobody]

Which leads me to next question. How common is organized, sentient intelligence? Is the conscious intelligence and self awareness the separation of the individuel from his environment, ala humans, prevelent in the universe, or is it more common to find adaptation along the lines of insects.

[subversion]

you ask how common is sentient intelligence in the universe. I think I can take a stab at that question. Once we all understand the theory of everything we will see that there is actually a marker, an indicator, which we can use to gauge the amount of life in the universe, and from this we can gauge the amount of intelligent life.

Depending on the parameters set forth at the beginning of the universe, the universe can range from teeming with life, to virtually barren, to no life at all. I can tell you that in our universe life is relatively uncommon, indeed probably quite rare, but it does exist. So we should consider ourselves to be lucky, we live on one of possibly only a couple dozen or so liveable planets in the universe!

In a universe with lots and lots of life, it is inevitable that a relatively large portion of life-forms will eventually discover the theory of everything. But remember, we live in a universe where life is quite rare, the abundance of life is less than average. The less life there is in a universe the more likely it is that nobody will ever discover the TOE. So if we do discover the TOE, we should consider ourselves to be twice as lucky. More than luck though, it would show that we are pretty dang freakin' smart, even among intelligent races.

In conclusion, TOE will grant us the ability to quantify the "liveability" of our universe. When we have this marker, we will see that the preponderance of life is less than average in our universe. This means that we are very lucky, and if we realize the TOE, very intelligent, even as far as intelligent races go. Hmmmm, I guess it's just good to be human eh?

[JAK]

Which leads me to next question. How common is organized, sentient intelligence? Is the conscious intelligence and self awareness the separation of the individuel from his environment, ala humans, prevelent in the universe, or is it more common to find adaptation along the lines of insects.

How common is liquid water on the 3rd planet of Rigel (beta Orion), 500 light years away? Unfortunately, we have no idea if Rigel has planets, let alone whether liquid water is found in the system. Our limited knowledge of the universe prevents a useful answer to your question. All we have is conjecture.