Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!ucsd!orion.cf.uci.edu!paris.ics.uci.edu!venera.isi.edu!smoliar From: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu (Stephen Smoliar) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: Definitions of intelligence and complexity Summary: Is worrying the antonym of thinking? Keywords: Social construct, productivity measure Message-ID: <6973@venera.isi.edu> Date: 6 Dec 88 03:42:06 GMT References: <448@uceng.UC.EDU> <42327@linus.UUCP> Sender: news@venera.isi.edu Reply-To: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu.UUCP (Stephen Smoliar) Organization: USC-Information Sciences Institute Lines: 18 In article <42327@linus.UUCP> bwk@mbunix (Kort) writes: > >By the way, my own working definition of intelligence is the >ability to think and solve problems. (I define thinking as >a rational form of information processing which conceives >solutions to outstanding problems, generates goal-achieving >courses of action, and reduces the entropy or uncertainty of >a knowledge base. The antonym of thinking is worrying, an >emotional form of information processing which fails to >generate solutions to outstanding problems, fails to generate >goal-achieving courses of action, and fail to reduce the >entropy or uncertainty of a knowldege base.) > In THE SOCIETY OF MIND, Marvin Minsky makes a plausible case for the possibility that worrying, as well as other emotions, may actually play a productive role in our ability to solve problems. I'm not yet sure I buy into his argument, but it gives me reason to think twice about Barry's antonymic stand.