Okay, the summary was a bit of teaser maybe, but here's the idea that just struck me while I was trying to fall asleep: what existing science and local 'Lither ingenuity can we employ to make ourselves smarter? I suspect very few among us would turn down a few extra ticks on the IQ scale, despite what we might otherwise think about the value of standardized testing. I'm thinking in the practical here - I want to build something, and I want your help, and I want to make sure the whole kit-and-caboodle stays in the public domain.
Off the bat I'm drifting, on account of my background, to magnetic solutions, but I'm curious about some of the developments in low voltage direct currents as well. I'm willing to wager that this crew could assemble a great deal of useful data on the subject (yes, I'm looking at you here grant). I know this little forum doesn't get quite the same traffic as some of the other neighbourhoods on Barbelith, and it engages in even fewer practical projects, but this one seems to me like the sort of thing we might productively rally behind.
I tentatively suggest we don't spend too much time quibbling over what precisely constitutes intelligence on the whole - let's agree on two or three relatively discrete faculties and concentrate our efforts on those: perhaps short term memory, long term recall and problem-processing speed? Maybe the ability and talent for abstraction as well? I'm open to suggestions.
I'm going to start seeing what I can dig up on the field - I know there've been some surprising announcements in the field over the past decade, most ignored. I'm eager to see what we can turn up.
Thoughts? Links? Denouncements? Theories? |
