Intelligence: Qualitative, not Quantitative

I think that intelligence in the sense the term is usually used is qualitative rather than quantitative. By this, I mean that there is no complete objective criterion by which one can judge whether another entity is more or less intelligent than another. Asking whether Person A is smarter than person B is like asking if person A is more good looking than person B—an answer is neither completely arbitrary, but neither is it precise or exact. Intelligence is a societal construct, and judgments pertaining to it a judgment call.

I was in a conversation with Joseph about how intelligent animals are as compared to us. I mentioned to him that we usually judge intelligence by how similar animals are to us. That is, it’s only similarities to things we deem intelligent in humans that we deem intelligent in animals. A dolphin is intelligent for its occasional tendency to save people, but a fly is not smart for it’s amazing ability to avoid being swatted. The clear difference is that saving people seems a more human act than avoiding a fly swatter using compound eyes and wings, and is hence closer to our ideal our very human stereotype of intelligence. We never consider animals intelligent for doing things that we cannot—it is only when they do things that remind us of humans, and by association intelligent humans, that we deem said animals intelligent.

Some may object, saying that we can measure intelligence by studying brains of different species. But this objection falls short. What characteristics of brains are said to make a dolphin more intelligent to a fly? Why, precisely those characteristics that enable animal to act more like us!