@philosophyminis: It's really hard to imagine another kind of intelligence. In science fiction worlds, like #StarWars and #StarTrek, we essentially have a human #intelligence projected on an #alien body. It's a brain, coordinating a nervous system, just like us. But in his #book Other Minds, the philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith presents us with another kind of intelligence altogether, here on Earth: #cephalopods In humans, we have a ‘chordate’ intelligence, which means that we have a central governing brain, operating a spine, that branches out to our nervous system. The result is that more than 90% of our neurons are in our brains, which control and synchronize the entire body. Cephalopods, though, developed their intelligence on an entirely different evolutionary path known as ‘convergent #evolution .’ Their intelligence is distributed throughout their body. An #octopus limbs will have a will of their own. They think for themselves and can behave quite independently of any central governing brain. The brain sometimes does coordinate action across the entire body, but limbs can choose to cooperate or not. Looking at other minds is a great way to understand our own. Godfrey-Smith, for example, argues that our #consciousness might be a byproduct of our brains need to coordinate our internal and external environments. It's a kind of sensory feedback loop. So, if we ever do meet an alien, it'll almost certainly think differently to us, because our way of thinking is only just one way. #philosophy #epistemology #biology

Jonny Thomson

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Sunday 15 September 2024 13:24:26 GMT