The capabilities of a homo sapiens sapiens 20,000 years ago are more chimp-like than comparable to a modern internet- and technology-amplified human. Our base human intelligence seems to be only a very little above the necessary threshold to develop cultural technologies that allow us to accumulate knowledge over generations. Standardized languages, the invention of writing and further technological developments improved our capabilities far above this threshold. Today children need years until they aquire enough cultural technologies and knowledge to become full members of society.
Intelligence alone does not bring extreme power. If a superintelligent AI has learned cultural technologies and aquired knowledge and skills it could bring it.
I’m not a prehistorian or whatever the relevant field is, but didn’t paleolithic humans spread all over the planet in a way chimps completely failed to? Doesn’t that indicate some sort of very dramatic adaptability advantage?
Yes indeed. Adaptability and intelligence are enabling factors. The human capabilities of making diverse stone tools, making cloth and fire had been sufficient to settle in other climate zones. Modern humans have many more capabilities: Agriculture, transportation, manipulating of any physical matter from atomic scales to earth surrounding infrastructures; controlling energies from quantum mechanical condensation up to fusion bomb explosions; information storage, communication, computation, simulation, automation up to narrow AI.
Change of human intelligence and adaptability do not account for this huge rise in capabilities and skills over the recent 20,000 years. The rise of capabilities is a cultural evolutionary process. Leonardo da Vinci was the last real universal genius of humanity. Capabilities diversified and expanded exponentially since exceeding the human brain capacity by magnitudes. Hundreds of new knowledge domains developed. The more domains an AI masters the more power has it.
The capabilities of a homo sapiens sapiens 20,000 years ago are more chimp-like than comparable to a modern internet- and technology-amplified human. Our base human intelligence seems to be only a very little above the necessary threshold to develop cultural technologies that allow us to accumulate knowledge over generations. Standardized languages, the invention of writing and further technological developments improved our capabilities far above this threshold. Today children need years until they aquire enough cultural technologies and knowledge to become full members of society.
Intelligence alone does not bring extreme power. If a superintelligent AI has learned cultural technologies and aquired knowledge and skills it could bring it.
I’m not a prehistorian or whatever the relevant field is, but didn’t paleolithic humans spread all over the planet in a way chimps completely failed to? Doesn’t that indicate some sort of very dramatic adaptability advantage?
Yes indeed. Adaptability and intelligence are enabling factors. The human capabilities of making diverse stone tools, making cloth and fire had been sufficient to settle in other climate zones. Modern humans have many more capabilities: Agriculture, transportation, manipulating of any physical matter from atomic scales to earth surrounding infrastructures; controlling energies from quantum mechanical condensation up to fusion bomb explosions; information storage, communication, computation, simulation, automation up to narrow AI.
Change of human intelligence and adaptability do not account for this huge rise in capabilities and skills over the recent 20,000 years. The rise of capabilities is a cultural evolutionary process. Leonardo da Vinci was the last real universal genius of humanity. Capabilities diversified and expanded exponentially since exceeding the human brain capacity by magnitudes. Hundreds of new knowledge domains developed. The more domains an AI masters the more power has it.