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From: unbent@ecsvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: intelligence and adaptability
Message-ID: <1466@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Nov-83 11:08:19 EST
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.1466
Posted: Wed Nov  2 11:08:19 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Nov-83 21:13:32 EST
Lines: 13

Just two quick remarks from a philosopher:

1.  It ain't just what you do; it's how you do it.
Chameleons *adapt* to changing environments very quickly--in a way
that furthers their goal of eating lots of flies.  But what they're doing
isn't manifesting *intelligence*.

2.   There's adapting and adapting.  I would have thought that
one of the best evidences of *our* intelligence is not our ability to adapt to new
environments, but rather our ability to adapt new environments to *us*.
We don't change when our environment changes.  We build little portable
environments which suit *us* (houses, spaceships), and
take them along.