Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
of intelligence have evolved over the years. For example, hundreds of
years ago, performing the addition and subtraction of relatively large
numbers consistently and correctly was a significant achievement. Fifty
years ago, you might have been considered to be particularly intelligent
if you could do arithmetic extremely quickly. Adding columns of num
bers in just a few seconds was a rare and impressive feat. Similarly, 20
years ago or so, you were considered extremely intelligent if you could
play chess at a very high skill level. Only the very best could hope to
win a chess tournament over a Grand Master. Of course, as our knowl
edge has increased, we have learned how to do such things, and now
computers can do each of these tasks. The computers may or may not
do the work in the same way we would, but they get correct answers
reliably—often faster and more consistently than humans. With such
advances in technology, we may have higher expectations regarding in
telligence now than our ancestors might have had years ago.
How Much Intelligence Is Needed for Addition and Subtraction?
In today's environment, you may think that arithmetic is easy, because you likely
learned it in grade school. Much of this ease of computation, however, depends upon
our understanding of the decimal system. We learn how to handle the digits 0 through
9, and then we put digits together to form larger numbers. Addition and subtraction
proceed in a digitbydigit fashion, and we do not associate those operations with high
intelligence. (To add 14 and 35, we proceed from right to left: First add the 4 and 5 to
get 9. Then add the 1 and 3 to get 4. The final answer is 49. The answer is only slightly
more complicated if we must carry a result from one digit to another.)
Historically, however, arithmetic has not always been so straightforward. Just consider
what result you would get when adding MDCCXLVII to MMCCCLXXIX. When you have that
done, subtract the first number from the second. In this notation, addition and subtrac
tion are demanding intellectual challenges.
This development in notation and numeric insight illustrates how new understandings
can transform a task from being considered an intellectual feat to a commonplace oper
ation requiring little thought.
With varying subjective views regarding the nature of intelli
gence, we might look for a more objective approach for determin
ing whether something possesses intelligence. A common approach
is to consider developing tests. Rather than prejudge the outcome,
we might conclude that something exhibits thought if it passes the
test, but does not adequately demonstrate intelligence if it fails.
With such an approach, we could objectively conduct a test regard
ing thinking and reach a conclusion based on our data.
