Reconsidering "intelligence"

Merits your consideration

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Traditional definitions of intelligence emphasize problem-solving ability, but a broader view suggests that intelligence is about how well a system connects, adapts, and thrives in its environment.

• At the recently founded Island of Knowledge think tank, scientists and philosophers explored intelligence beyond the human mind, considering learning in bacteria, plants, and even ecosystems.

• Their conclusion: Intelligence is relational, distributed, and deeply embedded in context — measured not just by efficiency, but by the ability to sustain and enhance life.

Excerpt: "A new think tank of scientists and philosophers recently gathered in a 16th-century Tuscan church to rethink intelligence as a distributed, relational capacity: the ability of any system to sense, adapt, and thrive within its environment. Their conclusion challenges centuries of assumptions, suggesting we may need a new definition of what it means to be “smart.”'