Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!klaatu.rutgers.edu!josh From: josh@klaatu.rutgers.edu (J Storrs Hall) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: <7749@klaatu.rutgers.edu> Message-ID:Date: 2 Dec 88 04:36:37 GMT References: <7749@klaatu.rutgers.edu> <193600002@trsvax> <5590@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 37 > Intelligence is the capacity to do actions, make statements, > exercise judgement, believe knowledge, and pay attention. >--JoSH To which Don Subt replies, " ...my computer can do [such] actions... " To which Josh replies, >I claim that when you say your pc is making statements or >believing knowledge you are using metaphor rather than actually >using the words in the basic senses I (and Webster) meant them. ...To which Mark Plutowski replies: This is just the point Don was making. *You* are using words erroneously, while Don (et.al.) was using them precisely within the context in which we discuss these matters on this net. If my claim was just the point Don was making, and I used the words erroneously, then Don must have used them erroneously. In fact, Don was not making a great point, but a joke, complete with ":-)". Of course, we were actually making opposite points, which is what you meant to say. If you were more concerned with "discussing these matters" and less with mindless repartee, you might have observed that there is an element of truth on both sides. You might have seen that the difference between the two interpretations has a lot to say about the nature of what we call "intelligence". Is it the degree of interconnectedness between the simple mechanical operations that distinguishes knowledge from data storage, judgement from "if (i>3)"? I suggest you spend your time considering these questions. You'll learn a lot more about intelligence that way, than you will from introspection. --JoSH