Steven Johnson, "The Myth of the Ant Queen" and:
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The Impact Bias, Altruism, and Human Intelligence (Assignment 3)
Much of “The Myth of the Ant Queen” is devoted to exploring the ways that intelligence manifests itself. One feature of seemingly intelligent systems, like an ant colony or a computer program, is that they do not always have a unifying and organizing controller which directs the movements and inputs of all the components of the system. Instead, the intelligent effects emerge from the combination and interaction of otherwise unintelligent parts as a result of long processes of adaptation.
Question: What role does happiness play in our understanding of how intelligence is manifested?
You should consider what one might mean by the words ‘happiness’ and ‘intelligence’. Could altruistic actions be construed as intelligent behavior in virtue of their positive overall effects? Or are we perhaps more like the ant colony where any organizational advantages which seem to display intelligence are merely the byproducts of an unintelligent evolutionary process fraught with cognitive errors? Are the effects of an action on an individual’s happiness a good measure of whether the action is intelligent? If so, why? If not, then why not? Make certain to draw from all three articles in your essay.
Your paper should:
1. Frequently introduce and discuss key concepts from all three texts.
2. Clearly indicate where Gertner’s, de Waal’s, and Johnson’s words and ideas end and your own begin.
3. Explore a project that you have devised. The paper should be an analysis rather than a summary. Look for overlapping concerns and points of connection between all three texts. Use the conclusions of each text to shed light on the others in the context of advancing your project.
Jeff Glick, Rutgers University, Fall 2005
From The Impact Bias, Altruism, and Human Intelligence.
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