Signs of Intelligent Life

What is it that defines intelligence, and I defy you to answer, "...being smart." The answer I will use here is that intelligence is simply the ability to think: to learn, reason, and theorize; it is not satisfactory in an academic or scientific manner, but serves the purpose we need it to here. The problem with the question is that once answered, it only leads to another question: what is intelligence for? Once we do know what intelligence is, we need to understand what it means for us. We do not have only enough brainpower to move our bodies and react to situations, that is to say we do not operate simply from instinct, although we definitely have predetermined responses or reflexes, both physically and psychically. The ability to think leads to the development of many technologies, certainly, but what else does it offer a species? It must serve a purpose aside from allowing one to solve problems and make tools. Isn’t the surplus simply wasted if that is its only function? Is intelligence something outside that, something intended for different uses which is wasted on those pursuits? Just as we don’t have hands solely to carry things, cogitation is not simply to imagine weapons. Each of these tools serves multiple purposes. The purpose of hands is not only to strangle and strike, but also to caress and hold gently. The ability to think demands the use of that ability, we can’t avoid it. So, when we use this ‘intelligence’, what should our goal be? Since we have it, and it can be used for so many things, what are the areas we should be investigating and focusing on? It seems that each new level of understanding leads to further questions, just as most pursuits in life may have no ultimate answer. Yet, if we aren’t to just blunder through life reacting and living as chance should have it, what does this ability allow us to do? Humanity’s prodigious ability to think is one of very few things we have going for us. Comprehending and understanding ourselves and our environment are the keys to our survival individually and collectively. We are not meant to live as salmon do, nor as bees; not that we are more or better than they, just that we have abilities they do not. Finally, an answer! However, one which only opens up another line of inquiry: which solution will allow us to survive? Once we recognize its purpose in our existence, we still need to agree upon implementing a response to our problems. For that we all need to agree upon the information we’ll use to formulate our answer, which is a topic for another time.