07.+What+is+Intelligence+(February+2006) - Get a Free Blog

What is Intelligence? 53
The lack of understanding of this “holistic” nature of real human
intelligence, i.e. intuition, is why as we have said, that many of those who
work in artificial intelligence believe it is just a matter of time before we
can duplicate human intelligence, or that is, design a computer program
with a number of “sequential lines of code” or even a so called “neural
net” that will “think independently.”
For example, as we have said earlier, they imagine intelligent discovery
or “creative thinking” is merely a happy chance “bisociation” (coined by
Arthur Koestler in “the Act of Creation”) of two here-to-fore unconnected
ideas floating around in the brain, and equally therefore, that given
enough time, this intelligent machine or “mechanical monkey” can type
out a Shakespeare play.
But for example, Mozart tried composing by arranging lines of music in
sequence using the throw of a dice. All we need report on that exercise,
was that these pieces were not subsequently found to be his famous or
successful works.
The reason is that if we study not some of the hundreds of conflicting and
largely inconclusive schools of psychological thought, or focus on the
mentally deficient and deranged, but rather instead look at the mentality
of the genius – he who invented or realised the technology and so on that
has created this modern world and its libraries and universities – such
beings as Newton, Kepler, Einstein, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart,
Shakespeare, Edison and so on – we find that these extraordinary beings
had a contemplative mind, an intuitive mind, not one which gorges on
masses of information like some kind of demented and hyperactive
bookworm.
Most of these great discoveries were also made before the age of mass
entertainments and TV sets and hi-fis blaring in our ears.
Life was lived at a gentler, slower pace.
There was a great deal of peace and quiet, and anyone who could be
magically transported from the era they lived in such as Newton or
Kepler, to experience the modern non-stop lifestyle we insanely accept as
normal, would be thoroughly traumatised and likely almost die of shock
at the contrast.
For example, take one of our modern nightclubs with its ear-splitting rock
music, stroboscopic and flashing laser light display, and a pounding