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From: larry@VLSI.JPL.NASA.GOV
Newsgroups: comp.ai.digest
Subject: Intelligence is an Many-factored Thing
Message-ID: <880502181224.faa@VLSI.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 3 May 88 01:12:24 GMT
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-- It seems to me to be silly to (say) things like "when a computer
-- passes the Turing test it will be intelligent."  Intelligence is
-- not...binary....                                  -jeff sherrard

I agree.  All too often I see people treat questions as if each had a
single binary answer.  This is worse than idiocy -- it's sub-idiocy,
demoting oneself to the intelligence of a flip-flop.  Intelligence has many
dimensions, and most seem to be either continuous or have many quantum
steps.  IQ tests (crude though they are) typically include a half to a
dozen factors, including spatial and verbal reasoning.  Some psychologists
have sought to add creativity, social ability, and other qualities.

(This isn't to say that all dimensions of a field are linear or curvilinear. 
Clearly some metrics have transition points, or "catastrophes," where a
small change in one dimension is accompanied by a tremendous change in a
companion dimension.  I suspect consciousness is like this; at some point
in the evolution of life it suddenly appeared -- though I suspect it was at
a much earlier point than most people are willing to credit.)

                                        Larry @ JPL-VLSI