The mention of “regularity” in this post convinces me more and more that true intelligence, at its core, is nothing else but the ability to make accurate predictions. That is, intelligence in any particular area is the ability to make accurate predictions about the future in that area. If you can predict cash flows accurately, you’re an intelligent analyst. If you can predict game scores accurately, you’re an intelligent gambler. Combining such intelligence with goals yields the following: if you can accurately predict whether your actions will bring you closer to your goal or not, you’re intelligent. Thus, in a sense, there’s nothing uniquely human: it’s just a matter of how we developed our goals [through evolution], what tools we have to try to fulfill them [our brain, as evolved], and how good we are at that [how intelligent we are, which varies].
The mention of “regularity” in this post convinces me more and more that true intelligence, at its core, is nothing else but the ability to make accurate predictions. That is, intelligence in any particular area is the ability to make accurate predictions about the future in that area. If you can predict cash flows accurately, you’re an intelligent analyst. If you can predict game scores accurately, you’re an intelligent gambler. Combining such intelligence with goals yields the following: if you can accurately predict whether your actions will bring you closer to your goal or not, you’re intelligent. Thus, in a sense, there’s nothing uniquely human: it’s just a matter of how we developed our goals [through evolution], what tools we have to try to fulfill them [our brain, as evolved], and how good we are at that [how intelligent we are, which varies].