Physicist Proposes New Way To Think About Intelligence

[n2doc]

By: Chris Gorski, ISNS
(ISNS) -- A single equation grounded in basic physics principles could describe intelligence and stimulate new insights in fields as diverse as finance and robotics, according to new research.

Alexander Wissner-Gross, a physicist at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Cameron Freer, a mathematician at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, developed an equation that they say describes many intelligent or cognitive behaviors, such as upright walking and tool use.

The researchers suggest that intelligent behavior stems from the impulse to seize control of future events in the environment. This is the exact opposite of the classic science-fiction scenario in which computers or robots become intelligent, then set their sights on taking over the world.

The findings describe a mathematical relationship that can "spontaneously induce remarkably sophisticated behaviors associated with the human 'cognitive niche,' including tool use and social cooperation, in simple physical systems," the researchers wrote in a paper published today in the journal Physical Review Letters.

more
http://www.insidescience.org/content/physicist-proposes-new-way-think-about-intelligence/987

[JimDandy]

1. Now THAT is worthy of a Nobel prize

in my layman's opinion.

"The proposal requires that a system be able to process information and predict future histories very quickly in order for it to exhibit intelligent behavior. Wissner-Gross suggested that the new findings fit well within an argument linking the origin of intelligence to natural selection and Darwinian evolution -- that nothing besides the laws of nature are needed to explain intelligence."

[truedelphi]

2. K & R. n/t

[mindwalker_i]

3. "Thinking about intelligence"

Sounds like something that could rapidly become infinitely recursive, and probably should be avoided

[delrem]

7. heh, yes, I don't trust mathematicians/physicists who believe their fields cover all.... nt

[Fumesucker]

4. The question which immediately spring to my mind is this..

Is self awareness necessary for intelligence?

Or vice versa for that matter.

[DetlefK]

14. Our computers have intelligence without self-awareness.

[IrishAyes]

18. Re: vice versa

Too often not, from what I've seen. Rightwingers are extremely self aware. Exclusively. But intelligence? That defies belief.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. #10 -- off to the greatest you go little thread with big thoughts.

[zazen]

6. hmmm. . . so what is wisdom within this paradigm?

"The universe exists in the present state that it has right now. It can go off in lots of different directions. My proposal is that intelligence is a process that attempts to capture future histories," said Wissner-Gross.

[truedelphi]

17. In view of the events of the last eight days, Someone like Ghandi might

Well suggest that scientists need to keep looking for intelligence and wisdom - it has to be somewhere out there.

it sure ain't on this planet!

[littlemissmartypants]

8. Love it.

"The researchers suggest that intelligent behavior stems from the impulse to seize control of future events in the environment."

[bananas]

11. That's not intelligence - it's a control freak!

If they put this into smartphones, it'll be like living with your mother!
"Pick up your socks!"
"Don't drive so fast!"

[Archaic]

9. Thanks for that.

Very interesting. I have a buddy who is WAY into cognitive neuroscience, and he'll get a kick out of this.

[bananas]

10. The paper, and a scary video, are on his website.

website: http://www.alexwg.org/

paper: http://www.alexwg.org/publications/PhysRevLett_110-168702.pdf

skynet/terminator/forbin video:

[napoleon_in_rags]

12. Aye, that may be the big fish.

I was talking with another DUer... Was it gliderguider? But he was talking about a project to characterize and monitor consumption in terms of entropy. The conversation moved to information entropy, and how all the concepts of entropy are really connected and central to everything - and how in this concept may be the really big fish in the sea of scientific breakthroughs.

It has the ability to solve so many problems. Oddly, in many cases it requires a stream good, truly random numbers too. Entropy is a probabilistic entity. However due to Quantum Mechanics, we now know that at a fundamental level our universe may be a probabilistic entropy (God does play dice) too.

[hunter]

13. This reminds me a lot of this science fiction novel:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html

Accelerando by Charles Stross

The ebook is Creative Commons Free!

[Fumesucker]

16. I read that one, quite good I thought

But Peter Watts' Blindsight is even more focused on these sorts of questions.

Also Creative Commons free.. http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

[Warren Stupidity]

15. They are describing functional consciousness.

That still does not get at what it is to experience the color red. It may be that perceptual consciousness emerges from sufficiently complex functional consciousness, we just don't know.