Today, while browsing the electronic pages of the New York Times, I found this interesting editorial
The Cost of Smarts
By Verlyn Klinkenborg
Research on animal intelligence always makes me wonder just how smart humans are. Consider the fruit-fly experiments described in Carl Zimmer’s piece in the Science Times on Tuesday. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly tended to live shorter lives. This suggests that dimmer bulbs burn longer, that there is an advantage in not being too terrifically bright.
Intelligence, it turns out, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slow off the starting line because it depends on learning — a gradual process — instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things they’ve apparently learned is when to stop.
Is there an adaptive value to limited intelligence? That’s the question behind this new research. I like it. Instead of casting a wistful glance backward at all the species we’ve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real costs of our own intelligence might be. This is on the mind of every animal I’ve ever met.
Every chicken that looks at you sideways — which is how they all look at you — is really saying what Thoreau said less succinctly: you are endeavoring to solve the problem of a livelihood by a formula more complicated than the problem itself. Thoreau himself would not dispute that he was hoping to recover the chicken’s point of view. He went to Walden Pond “to remember well his ignorance.”
Research on animal intelligence also makes me wonder what experiments animals would perform on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner, for instance, is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. I believe that if animals ran the labs, they would test us to determine the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for terrain. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really for, not merely how much of it there is. Above all, they would hope to study a fundamental question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in? So far the results are inconclusive.
This editorial refers to the following article : Lots of Animals Learn, but Smarter Isn’t Better
being wise is a true gift…. being smart is not wise, at all… but we teach our children to smart. it must come out fear, to succeed- survive.
Dear Agnieszka,
I absolutely know what you mean – about male and female friends. Especially us, girls, do complicate everything coming with relationships. I think I prefer male friends because I admire their racionality and cold mind when it comes to problems. Something what I miss in myslef :)
I have been thinking about a simple life, about not seeing things outside the tunnel view, about not wanting anything more from life, not to grow wiser, not want to know more, see more and experience more. But it just wouldnt be me. But a challange for me is -in all these life moving on, always find simple things that make myslef happy. And I try.
is it wise to be smart ??
the more smart human race has become, the more we are screwing up the very system that facilitates our existance. so it really appears that it may not be wise to be smart.
but it may be wise to be wise.
obsece profits, obscene wealth etc all require tremadous intelligence; tragedy is that the people who work day in day out to achive them themselves die of one or the other ‘wear out’ but they damage the ’system’ for generations to come. yesterday u were spekaing of the army of children, rest assured the numbers are only going to increase if soon enough this ‘wise’ human race does not find ways to distribute the ‘wealth’ more equitabely, till this ‘wise’ human race learns to moderate its obsession with ‘obscene’ wealth and corporate profits !!
let’s raise a toast to living wisely, not smeartly !! whew !!!
love
aditya
You know animals are looking at you, and you know what they are thinking ! I could not imagine what things they would perform on us ,especially if we where put in a circus situation for heavens sake .But you only have to look at Guide dogs to see the wonderful gift and joy ,love they bring to people and how smart they are .Love and Light Tania
Intelligence could not be an aim. Some scientists consider we have all a large percentage of our brain unused. But others consider that every brain is different: big or small. Also that genetic codes and social mechanisms could interfer with Intelligence.
Though that skill should seem more humble, when it stands at the state of medium. Intelligence is a tool, that gives us an orientation, through a culture, a moral. It helps us to see the pros and cons from, because it has to deal with society.
But intelligence is not the only skill man have. And any animals could loose oneself in, if it had only intelligence. It seems to have a deep bound with the fluctuated reaction in the whole societies. As a boomerang.
Instinct is another great skill. And how could scientists explain the many reactions it’s about to generate? That occur in the present moment, any human could not exactly tell how it’d happen.
Instinct is always living, and make us aware about an event, a good as a bad one. Then, brain come to rationnalize it. This a free act. A gift from life. And we all are supply ownself on.
There, intelligence manages with a lot of things, that don’t really belong to us, which we can or not rely on. And when we can, we maybe received the help of our instinct.
That’s why the latter seem more free, than intelligence. That may regress, when ignored as a great drawing of differences. And instinct is not about laws that man could change.
No one is obliged to be smart. It is a way of life. And truly playing smart is a lie anyway. People should think about enthousiasm, and listen to the signs that guide them to services they could give. Indeed, it happens people don’t want help, or are not prepared to ask. And we suddendly find ourselves very tired, verily empty.
Being smart all the time might mean to hide oneself the truth. But some people maybe are…
Life is better to appreciate with smiles, though we sometimes walk without.
We can’t always be happy. We would like to, we’ll be blind from news, or events that affect us, coming together. Maybe because we believed our brain was sufficient, and did not use in time. Or maybe we think brain is the master of oneself, while it’s wrong.
We can also make intelligence bent with reverence to slyness. Intelligence can be a smart or kicked horse. It is good for humans have also time to know how it is reacting exactly.
With it and intuition, Man can break bad mechanisms in his life, and so, in the world.
With Love.
Here we can discuss more details .One,it is known that stupid people are more happy.Some told that is because they are no very much different from animals.Once with the consciousness arrives the feeling of tragism.I can remind the romantic vision of the genius.Is a person who is not able to be happy ,nor to make another happy.Something is true.Of course,the middle way is to be chosen.Use both acquaired knowledge and listen to your heart,to instinct.
Dear Kristinne,
Yes, I was thinking about that before too.
I think some people do it because they’re have low self esteem, and they simply don’t know how to be open, how to face problems, issues..,they prefer to lie, or avoid things and this way it gets more and more complicated.
I have many female friends like that; they think that by trying to be nice and not saying the truth, people will like them more, but actually they get others confused and tired. That’s why I sometimes prefer male friends, because they’re less complicated, they know what they want and are not afraid of saying so.
Maybe not all of them, but most. They have other issues, like trying to be stronger, than they really are, showing off, which is funny, but at least it’s less confusing.
love
Agnieszka
Is it smart to talk with animals?
Love
All Ways
Hildegarde
This is incredible how some animals are smart, like this octopus; it can open the lid of the jar with the mouse inside. Yes definitely we’re not the only ones with the brain, but do we use it in the way we should or we’re wasting our time worring about unimportant, trivial things. I don’t think that brain is the only part in our body that can help us understand the world around us, there’s so much more; our senses, our heart.
If we only could “use it”, but…we don’t want to rely our life on impulses, feelings, insights. We want to reason life, everything, and what is funny, we even cannot do it right. We are lost so many, many times. Why? Because life is not about the intelligence, is not about behaving certain way, it’s about …enthusiasm, feelings, excitement, dreams.
Only those can make us feel in sync with nature, only those can make us feel uplifted, enchanted, full of energy, full of light. We could touch the sky, reach the stars and dance with the wind. And nothing can compare to that. Nothing ever could. Life is about experience that is inside us, within us, and it manifests to the outside with magical moments that can touch other people’s heart.
love
Agnieszka
I have four cats, each with very distinctive personalities. When I look in their eyes, I can hear them speaking to me with their souls. I find this theory that they respond to my art and they they, themselves are artists (and comedians). They too create and get pleasure from art whether it be colors, theatre, or music.
i think it is very, very, very unwise to be smart most of the time but not all of the time.
For e.g., sometimes the smartest people are the last to “get” certain things that are really very obvious to the naked eye. And also, sometimes being smart in trying to be wise appears very visibly plotting-ish, which is quite irritating, to everyone but the smarty.
But i shouldn’t say too much because people have called me smart before, and i didn’t like that.
..you are endeavoring to solve the problem of a livelihood by a formula more complicated than the problem itsel..
Anything meeting me during these searching couple of days havent told me more. In more specific way, its not just the livelihood problem.. it seems to be the way how we choose to think about any problems. But my question stays open – why do we keep to complicate the simple things? Just to make us look more important, respectful and busy? If so, and if having enough courage to face this fact, why do we keep doing it still anyway? I`ll have to figure this out.
Hi all
This is a very nice article
very interesting specially the last part.
Thank you for sharing
IF