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Human intelligence: have we reached the limit of knowledge?

Despite huge advances in science over the past century, our understanding of nature is still far from complete. Not only have scientists failed to find the Holy Grail of physics – unifying the very large (general relativity) with the very small (quantum mechanics) – they still don’t know what the vast majority of the universe is made up of. The sought after Theory of Everything continues to elude us. And there are other outstanding puzzles, too, such as how consciousness arises from mere matter. Will science ever be able to provide all the answers? Human brains are the product of blind and unguided evolution. They were designed to solve practical problems impinging on our survival and reproduction,…

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 Human intelligence: it’s how your brain is wired rather than size that matters

Human brains are bigger than those of our primate relatives, but evidence from extinct human ancestors suggests brain size isn't everything. To understand human intelligence, scientists are now looking deeper.

 Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed

Albert Einstein’s was estimated at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and John F. Kennedy’s was only 119, but as it turns out, your IQ score pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ, and BQ scores when it comes to predicting your success and professional achievement.

Articles of Interest

How To Harness Human Intelligence In An AI-Driven World

The time is now to invest and avoid an "AI singularity" pitfall. It is a delicate balance involving a new form of “double literacy,”melding natural and artificial intelligence. This involves on the one hand nurturing our innate human faculties starting with self-awareness, emotional intelligence, creativity and ethical reasoning through disciplines like applied neuroscience, mindfulness and the arts.

The "Science" of Human Intelligence: A Skeptical View

Popping up on my desktop screen is a 2023 book, The Science of Human Intelligence (Second Edition). Given my decades-long interest in the topic, I decide to look at the book. Fortunately, since the purchase price is over $100, the Harvard Library has a copy and I am able to borrow it.

Are we becoming more STUPID?

Technology may be getting smarter, but humans are getting dumber, scientists have warned. Evidence suggests that the IQs of people in the UK, Denmark and Australia have declined in the last decade.

Bodies Are the Key to Human Intelligence—What About Machines?

Most AI researchers are currently missing a central piece of the puzzle: embodiment.

Can You Get Smarter?

YOU can increase the size of your muscles by pumping iron and improve your stamina with aerobic training. Can you get smarter by exercising — or altering — your brain? This is hardly an idle question considering that cognitive decline is a nearly universal feature of aging.

Emotional Intelligence: Is EQ the New IQ?

Emotional intelligence has become a hot topic in the world of business and education. Since the early 1990’s emotional intelligence has moved from a fluffy, obscure concept to a well researched and popular term today.

How Sex Affects Intelligence, and Vice Versa

New research says sexual activity can grow brain cells. Keeping them may be another matter.

In ‘Enormous Success,’ Scientists Tie 52 Genes to Human Intelligence

These genes do not determine intelligence, however. Their combined influence is minuscule, the researchers said, suggesting that thousands more are likely to be involved and still await discovery. Just as important, intelligence is profoundly shaped by the environment. Still, the findings could make it possible to begin new experiments into the biological basis of reasoning and problem-solving, experts said.

New Views of Human Intelligence

INTELLIGENCE - THE DARK SECRET of American social science and education - is coming out of the closet. Once intelligence was perceived as a narrow group of mental abilities, those measurable by an I.Q. test. But according to that view great groups of the population turned out to be not very smart or educable. Since these groups were generally composed of poor minorities, nobody liked to talk about intelligence very much -it seemed somehow un-American.

Research Confirms a Link between Intelligence and Life Expectancy

The reasons are unclear, but higher IQ is correlated with longer life span.

Rethinking Human Intelligence In The Age Of AI

Let’s be honest … humans start out pretty useless. As a newborn, we can’t do anything outside of basic, preprogrammed functions like swallowing and crying. While a baby can move and make sounds, it doesn’t have much control over its actions. A baby will generate random wiggles and cries, but the baby isn’t intentionally (or intelligently) controlling anything of substance.

The Future of Human Intelligence: A Conversation with Ray Kurzweil

Information is at the core of being human, the universe and evolution itself. Information creation is accelerating, and its use is transformative in nature. Machines.

The tipping point: From animal intelligence to human intelligence

To me, the most revealing feature of human intelligence is that it is primarily societal, rather than individual. Most of what each of us knows or understands is taught to us, rather than things we figured out. We have found a way to accumulate intelligence across individuals and across generations, and because of this, collective human intelligence has exploded over the past few thousand years,

The War on Stupid People

Smart people should feel entitled to make the most of their gift. But they should not be permitted to reshape society so as to instate giftedness as a universal yardstick of human worth.

This Letter Was Written Using Human Intelligence

We authors who have feverishly worked on our books without the assistance of artificial intelligence and have self-published on Amazon are lost in the tidal wave of ChatGPT-written books.

Thomas Hills: Why human intelligence isn't evolving faster

I study the evolution of cognition. There is a growing interest in drug-enhancements for cognitive abilities, such as Ritalin and modafinil. Drugs like these are being used in many different places, like the military and education. So the question is, if these abilities are so great, why don't people already them? Typically, in evolutionary theory, if you want to ask why a fish doesn't swim faster, or why a bird can't see farther, the answer is there are trade-offs. The natural question is: what are the trade-offs for cognition and intelligence?

Unveiling the battle: Artificial Intelligence vs Human Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and human intelligence, the dichotomy between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human intelligence sparks profound debates. With the growing applications of Artificial Intelligence and its penetration across the different streams of industries, many people are questioning whether AI is better than the human brain.

What shaped human intelligence?

Scientists are trying to uncover the adaptive pressures that transformed primates into intelligent humans.

When Emotional Intelligence Goes Wrong

People skills can be dangerous.

Why Brain Size Doesn’t Correlate With Intelligence

People have long been tempted to link brain size and cognition. The intuitive notion that a “big brain” means “more intelligent” was first threatened some time ago, when we discovered animals with larger brains than ours: elephants and whales.

Why You Need More Emotional Intelligence

When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.

You Can Increase Your Intelligence: 5 Ways to Maximize Your Cognitive Potential

It is no coincidence that geniuses like Einstein were skilled in multiple areas, or polymaths, as we like to refer to them. Geniuses are constantly seeking out novel activities, learning a new domain. It’s their personality.

Resources

Human Intelligence Movement

The mission of the Human Intelligence movement is to ensure all students have the skills to thrive and succeed in an AI world.