katic@sri-unix (10/26/82)
An Investigation into the Factors Behind the "Is Anyone There" Discussion In a previous message to this group, I suggested something that I'd like to get into a discussion about. Taking the privilege of making highly unwarrented (but possible) assumptions, I will let fly. Here goes: ======== Assumption 1: Any sentient being will accomplish roughly the same amount of productive work in its day, regardless of the length of the day. D = day factor. For mankind, D = 1. For a race on a world going around faster than ours D > 1, for slower 0 < D < 1. This addresses the question of subjective time rate. Suppose we call our day 1 unit long. Suppose that another sentient race (call them the Gardd) is on a planet whose day is 5 units long. Then, by my assumption, the Gardd will take about 400 years to go from the car to the space shuttle (or thier equivalents). For them, D = 0.2 ======== Assumption 2: The average intelligence of a race as a whole can vary. Assumption 3: The racial average intelligence of mankind is about average for the Galaxy. R = racial average intelligence. For mankind, R = 1. Scale others up/down as you would IQ's. (I have taked the liberty of normalizing this quantity.) This addresses the the question of relative intelligence. We can free associate here and come up with some usefull guidelines: Corollary A: There is a minimum value of R below which technical progress is impossible. I will (somewhat arbitrarily) set this lower limit at ~0.6. This society might progress slowely, but I feel it will progress. (We can temporarily assume that there will not be any evolutionary pressure upward. An invalid assumption, but it makes the arguing easier.) Corollary B: There does not appear to be an upper limit to R. If you wish to stipulate that the upper limit is infinate, then you may want to call that race (person?) god. ======== Assumption 4: The peak intelligence (I call it the Newton Factor) is roughly dependent on the population size of the race. ie, the larger the sample size, the farther out the endpoints (of a standard bell curve) will be found. Assumption 5: Mankind is an average population size race. N is the peak intelligence factor. For mankind, N is somewhere around 2 to 2.5. Assume 2 for ease of use. This puts a limit on the spurt growth of scientific/technological (s/t) growth. If a Newton or an Einstein does not come along every now & then, progress is slower. If a transcendent genius does appear, the race may make great growth strides in (relatively) short periods of time. ======== Assumption 6: The carnivorous background of a race affects the Darwinian competition aspect of a race. C = 1 for a carnivore, much less for a herbrivore. On the other hand, C > 1 for an omnivore. This affects the s/t growth rate of that race--carnivores evolve faster, are more efficient competitors and live a 'smarter' life style. (Although there are arguments for being an even smarter prey species, I don't accept them.) Omnivores have the advantage of a wider scope of available food sources. Unfortunately, this is a factor which has a tradeoff associated with it. If a race if highly competative, it is also prone to violence. Corollary C: The violence factor for mankind, V = 1. For a more peaceful race, V > 1. For a less peaceful one, 0 < V < 1. For the sake of argument, I will stipulate that this factor is lowest in herbrivores and highest in carnivores; with omnivores falling in the middle. ======== Assumption 7: The competition enherant in a multisexed race enchances s/t growth rate two ways: through genetic mixing as well as through evolutionary choice decisions in mate selection(s). M = 1 for a multisexed race, much less for a unisexed race. Look at the evolution of unicellular anumals. Those ones which are multisexed generally show a marked advantage in fitting to new niches in the echology, etc. On the other hand, it has been suggested that any race with greater than 2 sexes will have such an inordinate sex drive that no intelligence will be left over for any other purpose. Certainly life-as-we-know-it has no (even minimally) intelligent races other than bisexual. ======== Assumption 8: The curiousity factor of a race affects its s/t growth rate. I (investigation) = 1 for mankind. Questions: --Can intelligence be seperated from curiousity or is curiousity only one (necessary) part of intelligence? --Is s/t growth possible with a low/zero value of I? --Is evolution of intelligence possible without necessary evolution of curiousity? ---------------- What is the point behind all of this? This entire discussion has been taking place under the assumption that all other sentient races act just as we do! I would like to see some questioning of this assumption. Thoroughly cowed but bravely marching onward katic (....!nsc!katic)