Compare, for examples, a fish to a dog to a man. Supposing we someday stumble an extraterrestrial (or otherwise) lifeform with intelligence that was far superior to our own. What, hypothetically, would be different about them? What could they do or think about that we could not?
Balance their Federal budget?
Well, they could solve complicated equations in their heads without the use of pencils and paper or calculators, something most humans are not capable of.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
I think this very efficiently reveals the problems in using “intelligence” as a generic name for all sorts of mental functions. Wouldn’t it depend on what sort of intelligence we’re talking about?
This is not at all a given. There are humans who can do such things, but in other respects they are frequently of average, or even below-average, intelligence.
One thing they wouldn’t do is kill each other over the way that they think the other person thinks.
Well, yeah, but “intelligence” is such a broad and vague term that it’s really impossible to say what a more intelligent race would be capable of specifically, so I just came up with a random thing that might be the case if you defined “intelligence” as “better at calculation”. It’s like saying “which is bluer, sky blue or dark blue”?
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
ETA: Spartydog, maybe they would but would just be better at it.
The question is unanswerable, because we have a tendency to define “intelligence” in human terms, which probably would be inapplicable to an extraterrestrial. Look at the way we define intelligence in animals. If they think like us, they are intelligent; if not, they are not. Now extrapolate that attitude to a species from an environment totally alien to Earth. We may not even notice their superiority at first, because we’d be looking for the wrong things and judging them by the wrong criteia.
They could have a much broader and deeper grasp on their own knowledge than we do. Human knowledge is already well beyond the human capacity to understand; we deal with it by breaking what we know up into thousands of specialties. This works, but it means no one person really understands human knowledge, and it also means that a lot of potential discoveries are unmade or delayed because they require two or more areas of specialization.
They could literally have “a degree in Science”, rather than being a specialist.
Well, since humans are so bad at (untranslated) that they don’t even have a name for the concept, I doubt they would even recognize a superior (untranslated) (Untranslated) if it fell onto their collective faces and (untranslated).
Given that this is a hypothetical with no factual answer, it is better suited for IMHO than GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Live in peace with one another.
And they would have ponies! And eat gumdrop sandwiches! And never have to scrub behind their ears! And, and . . . :rolleyes:
My thoughts exactly.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
They wouldn’t forget things, and would easily be able to sift through their entire lifetime of memories to arrive at the best answer to a problem. They wouldn’t need to practice skills to the extent that humans do; for example, they might learn to play a musical instrument simply by observing others play it. They would have a much clearer understanding of why they believe the things they do. They’d have a more sophisticated grasp of cause and effect, and be able to accurately weigh far more variables to predict the outcome of their actions.
A fish acts but doesn’t think. A dog thinks, but doesn’t know that it thinks. We know that we think, but not why we know that we think. A more intelligent being would know why they know that they think.
I solve trignometric integrals by parts and inhomogeneous linear differential equations by Lagrangian variation mentally during really boring meetings. It’s not that impressive of a feat, actually; it just requires techniques for organizing memory and knowing the solution methods by heart.
I tend to agree with panache45; we wouldn’t even have the basis to comprehend or evaluate their intelligence except in ways that are comparable to our own. Any abilities that are truly transcendent is going to be so esoteric (especially anything resembling philosophy, art, literature, or other cultural pursuits) that it may not be within our ability to understand. Our common ground, such as it may be, will probably be in applied mathematics and the natural sciences, and even in that there may be such a disconnect in terms of thinking or approach that it may be nearly impossible to understand. Imagine a sentient alien species whose concept of mathematics doesn’t include an integer base system, or whose grasp of biology allows them to build ‘living’ biochemical machines without ever having developed mechanical devices like the wheel and axle.
The question posed by the o.p. is interesting but ultimately too open ended for a definite or even informed answer.
Tranger
Truly understand/comprehend quantum mechanics and its implications on reality.
Understand multi-dimensional space at an intuitive, cognitive level that doesn’t necessarily require working in mathematical abstractions.
Post under the name “Rhythmdvl”
Aside from what others have already said, an answer that comes up fairly often in science-fiction is that the aliens would have some sort of psychic power. Like they can “speak” to each other using only their minds, see the future, teleport, move objects without physically touching them, diagnose or even cure illness through the power of their minds, or alternately harm or kill others using only their mental powers.
I don’t think any of this is likely to be true, but I can imagine that there might be alien beings who are so much more intelligent and in such a different way that they could do things that would look like magic to us.
Indeed, we do things that would be ‘indistinguishable from magic’ to a person born 100 years ago and with whom we share a common language and continuity of culture. Imagine explaining to someone born before WWI genetic engineering, desktop computing, cellular telephony, or communications satellites. Hell, most of the technology people use on a daily basis is already practically magical in its fundaments. A sentient being coming from an entirely different evolutionary, environmental, and cultural background would regard all but the most basic views of the world in an entirely different and nearly incomprehensible way.
Stranger
Comprehend infinity, and the differences between large and small infinities, with the same ease we have in comprehending ordinal numbers.
See in four dimensions, or upward of four.
Alter the molecular structure of objects.