31 October 2007

There is a shrill outcry of concern that America's future is in a "sad decline in overall intellectual acumen" and technology is "short-circuiting the minds of the upcoming generations" (Mark Morford, "American kids, dumber than dirt; Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history," The San Francisco Chronicle, 24 October 2007). Extending to the present generation, even amongst Nobel Prize winning scientists - the paragon of intelligence - there is an exhibition of idiocy now and then (George Johnson, "Bright Scientists, Dim Notions," The New York Times, 28 October 2007).

Furthermore, institutions of intelligence - United Nations - are issuing "major reports" that rather than being 'major' are nothing less than obvious (James Kanter, "U.N. Warns of Rapid Decay of Environment," The New York Times, 26 October 2007). Indeed, the U.N. recently issued a report declaring the "human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage to the environment that could pass points of no return." The report adds:

"Population growth combined with unsustainable consumption has resulted in an increasingly stressed planet where natural disasters and environmental degradation endanger people, plants and animal species."

Of course, this is not news. Rather than being a report of news qua new information, Kanter has furnished yet another article attesting to the blunting of acumen and of intelligence reporting. Another symptom of a vanishing intellect or an intellect that never existed?

Apart from the institutions and the figures of prized intelligence, the 'common man' is seemingly proven not to be more intelligent than fifth grade children (Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Fox Network). Although this may be more a testament to the separation in time between adulthood and the fifth grade, the 'proof' is unmistakable and rather grim.

How do we explain, or even attempt to explain this sharp decline? Could it be attributed to the differential between corporate and academic salaries? As stated by Professor Bakul Dholakia of IIM Ahmedabad, that differential is two to one in the U.S. and Europe and ten to one in India (Della Bradshaw, "India's elite schools aim at autonomy," Financial Times, 14 October 2007). Hardly an encouraging reality for fostering intelligence...

In this same arena, is a virtual dialogue between the outcries and the reports:

Ms. Cascio of the Academy of Science in Louden County, Virginia would be keen to disagree; her students attest to a vigorous intelligence of America's young (scientific) minds (Natalie Angier, "In Science Classrooms, a Blast of Fresh O2," The New York Times, 30 October 2007).

In the sphere of technology-mediated-virtuality, the trend towards consumer-generated content is a cornucopia of creative intelligence and individuality. Increasingly today, teens and twenty-somethings are displaying remarkable feats of intelligence and pushing against traditional definitions of intellect:

Nick Haley, the eighteen year old who created a commercial for the iPod Touch (Stuart Elliott, "Student's Ad Gets a Remake, and Makes the Big Time," The New York Times, 26 October 2007), George Hotz, the seventeen year old New Jersey hacker who unlocked his iPhone from AT&T and used it on T-Mobile (Peter Svensson, "Teen hacker untethers iPhone from AT&T network," The Associated Press, 24 August 2007), and Mike Hudack, the sixteen year old hacker hired by the National Security Agency (Ann Kellan, "Federal agency recruits hacker teens," CNN, 26 August 1999) all attest to the very real existence of an unparalleled intelligence - an intelligence in critical need of redefinition.

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Moreover, when 'intelligence' can go both ways - intellect and stupidity - there is need for pause and overhaul:

The Agence France Presse reported a list of global products, foods, and brands notoriously endangering consumers ("Sleeping pills for kids top global list of bad products," 30 October 2007). This is intelligence reporting exposing both product stupidity and the vulnerability of consumer ignorance. We have yet to encounter a report of educating the consumer and of sanctioning companies against endangering their target audience.

Scientists' reports on the Hayward Fault and on sites of possible devastating earthquakes are as much a display of geological intelligence as they are a commentary on the stupidity of inaction (Carolyn Jones, "Hayward Fault is our deadliest - a 'tectonic time bomb' ", The San Francisco Chronicle, 18 October 2007). We have yet to encounter a report of the corrections or contingency precautions of this 'time bomb'.

StemLifeLine Inc.'s proposed " 'personalized' stem cells" as "insurance for the future" one-ups the intelligence-stupidity front by highlighting the fine demarcation between intelligence biology and the stupidity of (capitalist) greed (Bernadette Tansey, "Nascent stem cell company raises ethical and medical issues," The San Francisco Chronicle, 29 October 2007).

Indeed, as David Magnus of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics states, "These companies are essentially taking advantage of people's ignorance and fears to make a buck."

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So which is it? Is intelligence phasing out, or is it rising? Is the intellect sharp, or has it dulled beyond repair?

Could there be a possible alternative to intelligence?

The current dynamic reality of multiplicity, complexity, and virtuality demands a redefinition of traditional, normative concepts assumed by the doxa to be still relevant. We can no longer mistakenly assume the anachronistic to be simultaneously current and accurate.

So what exactly is Intelligence?

For an answer to this question, perhaps the best place to look is in its history:

Logos is defined in Greek philosophy as word, speech, discourse, and reason. In pre-Socratic philosophy it is defined as the rational principle governing the cosmos. In Stoicism, it is defined as the active, material, rational principle of the cosmos. Identified with God, it is the soure of all activity and generation and is the power of reason residing in the human soul. In Theology, it is the creative word of God, which is itself God and incarnate in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14).

Nous is defined in Greek philosophy as reason, knowledge, intellect, and equivelant to Logos, it is responsible for thought, feelings, and the seat of the faculty of reason.

Intelligence is defined as the capacity for learning, reasoning, and understanding. Synonymous with acumen, it is the faculty of thought, reason, and understanding. Circa 1430, it was defined as superior understanding and sagacity.

Amongst Logos, Nous, and Intelligence is the underlying tie of reason. Apart from Logos and Nous, Intelligence emphasizes the faculties of understanding and wisdom. However, at the core of today's reality is quite a different category of understanding - one that we have never encountered before - and quite a different path towards gaining wisdom. Because reality is fast becoming a multiplicity of seamless virtualities and because of the blurring dyads resulting from these virtualities, experience has completely changed and so too has understanding and the capacity of existing potential.

Far from being static, reality forces traditional and erstwhile constants into dynamic and perpetual change. Different forms of intelligence are surfacing based upon a distinct level of capacity and creative potentiality. Alongside the rampant bursts of stupidity today, Intelligence fires the call for its changed perception and redefinition.