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Article 6534 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: abreu@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Abreu)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Communication and Intelligence
Message-ID: <1992Jul31.233457.16966@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>
Date: 31 Jul 92 23:34:57 GMT
References: <1992Jul31.061939.16766@dirac.physics.sunysb.edu>
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In <1992Jul31.061939.16766@dirac.physics.sunysb.edu> 
charles@dirac.physics.sunysb.edu (Charles Ofria) writes:
 [...]
 > Although you can clip all the communication abilities from
 > a person and still have them be intelligent, all that we can really show
 > to be intelligent must be done through some form of communication.
 [...]
 > Therefore even though external communication is not truly
 > needed per say, I think that it is important enough to include in a
 > definition.

External communication isn't important; it is ESSENTIAL. Internal
communication, per se, has no reason of being because there's
nothing to trigger it.

There's not one element of intelligent behaviour I can think of, that
does not depend on some sort of external communication. All the
knowledge we possess is acquired through it. All our physical abilities
are acquired and improved through it. All our mental abilities are
acquired through it.

In fact, I'd go as far as saying that external communication shapes
our intelligence. Having come this far, you can already guess that
by communication I mean the interaction with the surrounding environ-
ment, in all its nuances. I hope that's the definition you're using
in your message.

Consequently, and regarding the point about clipping someone's
communication abilities, I suppose it depends on how early in life that
is done, and for how long a period do you expect to still find
intelligence. A case in point is the mental degradation suffered by
prisoners in solitary (and even that one is not total). If the
clipping happened at birth then what? Having no input, the person would
beintelligent about what?

Could we agree that

 a) External Communication - is defined as interaction with the
    surrounding environment, and elements in it, in all its shapes.
    Both input and output.

 b) External Communication is an essential requirement for intelligence.

 c) External Communication shapes intelligence.

Hamilton Abreu


