BothAndBlog Forum

Is Intelligence A Property Of Reality?
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussi ... ent/550810

What if intelligence is like this? What if it's not a property of this or that thing, but a property of reality which is expressed in many different ways in many different circumstances? — Foghorn

Your question describes universal "Intelligence" as-if it is something "out there in Nature", like Energy, except that, instead of converting Cold to Hot, it converts Dumb to Smart. Perhaps, everything in the world is being irradiated with that ambient Smart Power, but only certain things are receptive to it's wisdom. Similarly, some people have postulated that "Consciousness" is being beamed at us like radio signals, but only a select few (humans, apes, whales) are tuned-in to the proper frequency to get a clear signal. But where (out there in the ether) is the Intelligence radio station? And who is the station manager?

Radio Brain :
"the brain may be a receiver and transmitter of consciousness."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-06- ... sness.html

I have considered a similar idea, but I use the more generic term "Information" instead of anthropocentric "Intelligence". Information is indeed related to Intelligence & Wisdom, but as a transmitter and transformer, it works more like Energy as an agent of Change. Scientists have found that Information is an essential Quality of everything in the world. I won't go into the details of that notion here. Yet, it's the basis of my personal worldview that I call Enformationism. Like Energy, Information is a "property of reality", but it has Mental effects in addition to its causal effects on Matter. Its expression as Intelligence is a matter of degree : some have it and some don't.

Is information the only thing that exists? :
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg ... at-exists/

Information :
Knowledge and the ability to know. Technically, it's the ratio of order to disorder, of positive to negative, of knowledge to ignorance. It's measured in degrees of uncertainty. Those ratios are also called "differences". So Gregory Bateson* defined Information as "the difference that makes a difference". The latter distinction refers to "value" or "meaning". Babbage called his prototype computer a "difference engine". Difference is the cause or agent of Change. In Physics it’s called "Thermodynamics" or "Energy". In Sociology it’s called "Conflict".
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page11.html

I've been suggesting that what we call intelligence, and matter, may be not two things but one. That is, two different words for the same thing. United in reality, divided conceptually.
Isn't this the case with energy and matter? Isn't matter just one of the expressions of energy? — Foghorn

Yes. According the the Big Bang theory, All Energy, Matter, Intelligence, and Consciousness in the universe came from the same source, called "The Singularity". But the question arises, what form did those different expressions take when they were united in the "seed" of our universe. My guess is that the Singularity contained generic Information (program), analogous to the DNA in a seed or egg -- or like the "Boot Program" of a computer. And since Information is non-physical (e.g. mathematics & logic) everything in our vast current universe could be compressed into a tiny package with no physical dimensions (i.e. occupying no space).

Therefore, in my personal worldview, all Matter & Energy in the world originated as something with the Potential to develop into a variety of physical (Matter) and meta-physical (Mind) forms. Hence, both Energy and Matter are "expressions" of generic Information. And Quantum Theory supports that notion, in that physical Atoms of Matter, are reduced to mathematical Wave Functions on the quantum scale. One physicist remarked on the strange notion of a superposed particle, with no definite position or velocity : "it's nothing but Information!"

That's why scientists track those neither-here-nor-there particles by their effects on other particles. It's like following the spoor of a deer in the forest, without ever actually seeing the deer. What we "see" is Information about (related to) the particle, not the object itself. So, we use different words, and have different concepts for the various aspects of our world, that in fact are all "expressions" of the same Universal Potential : the power to Enform.


The initial singularity is a singularity predicted by some models of the Big Bang theory to have existed before the Big Bang[1] and thought to have contained all the energy and spacetime of the Universe. . . . Although there is no direct evidence for a singularity of infinite density, the cosmic microwave background is evidence that the universe expanded from a very hot, dense state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_singularity

Boot Program :
In computing terms, the term “boot” means to start a computer up from cold. When a computer is initially powered on, commands in the computer's ROM are automatically executed that instruct the computer to load the boot program into memory and execute its instructions.
https://www.dataclinic.co.uk/what-is-a-boot-program/
Note -- the Singularity was the "memory" and the Big Bang was the "execution" of the program.

Where can DNA be found outside living organisms? — Wayfarer

The reference was not to bio-chemical DNA, but to the non-physical "instructions" encoded in the chemical structure. The distinction is between the "carrier" of information Quanta (def 1.)and the message "content" Qualia (def 2.). We now use those letters metaphorically in reference to any design information (blueprint) that results in the construction of physical structure, such as the Universe. The Big Bang Singularity is sometimes compared to a Black Hole, in which material information is compressed into something we would no longer recognize as matter. It's close to pure, un-embodied mathematical information.

DNA :
1. self-replicating material that is present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.
2. the fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of someone or something, especially when regarded as unchangeable.
___Oxford

This relationship between that which exists, and that which is real but doesn't exist, is of increasing interest here. — Foghorn

That's the crux of the Black Hole Information paradox. Everything that exists in reality is ultimately a form of quantum information, sometimes called a "quantum field" of empty space, where potential (virtual) particles pop in & out of existence. But when matter is sucked into a Black Hole, it's crushed & ripped-apart like a garbage grinder. So, where does the essential information go?

Since structural information is equivalent to causal Energy, complete destruction would contradict the First Law of Thermodynamics. Some have guessed that the squeezed essence of matter (thinking it's like orange juice) may have disappeared into a parallel universe. But, since quantum level Information (patterns, relationships) is mathematical, it actually occupies no space. So, compression doesn't destroy it, it just deconstructs the physical form that we can sense. Hence, I would say that the original information still exists, but is recycled back into Potential instead of Actual matter.

Energy - Information equivalence :
The bit of information is equivalent to a quantum of minimum energy
https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1401/1401.6052.pdf

The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.

The black hole information paradox :
The black hole information paradox is a puzzle resulting from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Calculations suggest that physical information could permanently disappear in a black hole, allowing many physical states to devolve into the same state. . . . This is controversial because it violates a core precept of modern physics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hol ... on_paradox

What happens to those instructions after the big bang? — Foghorn

Those instructions are now doing their job. Like the encoded patterns of DNA, they are used as blueprints for construction of matter. And, like DNA, the code is recycled (reproduced) from one job to another, to continue the assembly of an expanding material universe.

I'm arguing along the lines that "intelligence" (likely a wrong word to use) is a property, not of this or that thing, but of reality itself. If we change the word "intelligence" to "data" maybe my theory becomes more science-like? — Foghorn

Yes. But I prefer the term "Information", because it exists in two basic forms in the real world. The original meaning of the term, referred to meanings in minds. But it has recently been applied to describe the causal power (to enform) of Energy. Since Energy is not a static property of matter, limited to a single form, it hops from one physical object to another. It's a general property of reality, not a specific property of any one thing.