If humans were twice as intelligent.....

Do you think it would be a benefit to the world or a curse? Would we be too advanced for our own good?

Would the world be a better place?

This is one answer according to an "expert"

If humans were twice as intelligent as we are now, experts think we would be more fulfilled on an individual scale, as well as healthier, better looking and less religious. But people would still have a diverse range of personalities, and so society as a whole might be just as conflicted as it is today.

Well, for starters...we wouldn't need those silly warning printed signs on dry cleaning bags --- "warning - do not place over your head" 
Anything else? ~~~

I don't know that it would make a difference.

the threshold would just change. if people retained the variance between intelligence, the annoyingly dumb people would be smarter but the smart people would be even smarter so probably still find them annoying

But wouldn't the world be different? Would we have found cures, conquered space.....would there still be global warming, for instance?

Think about how intelligent humans are now (not the stupid ones) and imagine them twice as clever.
That's twice as clever!

I am sure the world would be different - I don't know about better, but it would be different.

eddie wrote:But wouldn't the world be different? Would we have found cures, conquered space.....would there still be global warming, for instance?

Think about how intelligent humans are now (not the stupid ones) and imagine them twice as clever.
That's twice as clever!
I am sure the world would be different - I don't know about better, but it would be different.

To me...it's not so much about the 'degree/measure' of intelligence as it is the method that people utilize their intelligence: for example...we wouldn't need any laws on our books if the 'COMMON SENSE' of 'do onto others' was a actual daily application that people applied to every part of their livelihood. 

We'd respect boundaries/speed limits...we'd behave like we cared and what we did mattered to each other! We wouldn't be building things that harmed the planet or our mankind or our environment in anyway shape of or form. 

COMMON SENSE; can't be measured but it most certainly can be seen when it goes belly up and skewed beyond repair --- loads of that around here to be used for easy access and quick examples. 

Intelligence isn't the same thing as common sense, is it?
Common sense is a form of intelligence, I'd say.

eddie wrote:Intelligence isn't the same thing as common sense, is it?
Common sense is a form of intelligence, I'd say.

See, that the Oxymoron of testing the IQ of one's intelligence level...I've known some humans that could take apart a upright old organ - repair all of those straps/wires/pulls/rebuild their rotted wood parts {never have had put their hands upon a complex organ before in their entire life} but because they didn't have an engineer degree they weren't promoted at their jobs while the college degreed young man was and he was a bloom'n idiot! 
One doesn't guarantee that the other is of equal value; book smart doesn't equate to higher intelligence...it just means you've spent more time READING.

eddie wrote:But wouldn't the world be different? Would we have found cures, conquered space.....would there still be global warming, for instance?

Think about how intelligent humans are now (not the stupid ones) and imagine them twice as clever.
That's twice as clever!

I am sure the world would be different - I don't know about better, but it would be different.

I agree with you that the world would be much further advanced if people were twice as intelligent.
When we think of the great intelligence that has made todays world possible, computers, space travel, cures for once deadly illnesses etc...then multiply that ....obviously we would be a lot further advanced than we are now.

Syl wrote:

eddie wrote:But wouldn't the world be different? Would we have found cures, conquered space.....would there still be global warming, for instance?

Think about how intelligent humans are now (not the stupid ones) and imagine them twice as clever.
That's twice as clever!

I am sure the world would be different - I don't know about better, but it would be different.

I agree with you that the world would be much further advanced if people were twice as intelligent.
When we think of the great intelligence that has made todays world possible, computers, space travel, cures for once deadly illnesses etc...then multiply that ....obviously we would be a lot further advanced than we are now.

Hmmm, I've often pondered what we missed; if the opportunities existed within the minds and abilities of the early designers for the pyramids and the mind of Galileo Galilei, had they been allowed to expand and grow unchecked by society or religion what direction our technology would have taken us. 

Rather like the chicken or the egg;
what led us faster/further - education or technology

I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

That's my point. If we were more intelligent we'd have realised this wouldn't we, and hardly be in the mess we are in.

It's obvious to us now really. I often wonder why the world's experts and brains didn't realise the shit we were doing to the ozone and the polar caps.

eddie wrote:That's my point. If we were more intelligent we'd have realised this wouldn't we, and hardly be in the mess we are in.

It's obvious to us now really. I often wonder why the world's experts and brains didn't realise the shit we were doing to the ozone and the polar caps.

I think it's the same kind of thinking I encountered frequently from conservatives in college, who informed me that we didn't need to worry about ruining the planet because "God wouldn't let that happen." More of that line of thought here: http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/2007/02/12/do-you-honestly-believe-god-wo/

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:That's my point. If we were more intelligent we'd have realised this wouldn't we, and hardly be in the mess we are in.

It's obvious to us now really. I often wonder why the world's experts and brains didn't realise the shit we were doing to the ozone and the polar caps.

I think it's the same kind of thinking I encountered frequently from conservatives in college, who informed me that we didn't need to worry about ruining the planet because "God wouldn't let that happen." More of that line of thought here: http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/2007/02/12/do-you-honestly-believe-god-wo/

You and I will have a big punch up in a minute about God and free will.....because it all depends upon whether you believe God stands over his "children" like they're babies?

eddie wrote:That's my point. If we were more intelligent we'd have realised this wouldn't we, and hardly be in the mess we are in.

It's obvious to us now really. I often wonder why the world's experts and brains didn't realise the shit we were doing to the ozone and the polar caps.

Ya-But, Ya-But...those greedy corporations that were so profit geared driven about 'make'n the money' weren't going to listen to any worry warts that had concerns about our environmental conditions: not during those years of smog laden/air polluted ozone levels - or the atomic tests out in the Arizona flats & all that radiation fall out - or all those DDT sprays - the Chlorofluorocarbon finally banned in the 70's
 
And the most recent climate deniers that just don't want to believe we are seeing bans of global warming stretch around the world and the impact that it's having on many regions.   There's still a huge group of nay-sayers that think we are making 'much-ado-about-nothing' and think that their out dated data provides their bolster opinion with proof.

eddie wrote:But wouldn't the world be different? Would we have found cures, conquered space.....would there still be global warming, for instance?

Think about how intelligent humans are now (not the stupid ones) and imagine them twice as clever.
That's twice as clever!

I am sure the world would be different - I don't know about better, but it would be different.

all those things still take time.
maybe things would have happened faster in which case the current industrializtion caused gloabl warming would have occured earlier.
and we would already be onto the next 'mess'.

But also We WILL do all those things. maybe not in our life times but in the future, it wont be that individuals are that much smarter but they will have the work we are doing today as a foundation to build their work upon. that is civilization.

Ben_Reilly wrote:I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

not quite, large cats are one of the most successful predators and they have huge energy usage, that is why cats are lazy.
but that huge energy usage means that in a moment of conflict, they simply kill the animal that is more effienct in it's energy usage but incapable to the raw 'power' of a lion or tiger.

veya_victaous wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

not quite, large cats are one of the most successful predators and they have huge energy usage, that is why cats are lazy.
but that huge energy usage means that in a moment of conflict, they simply kill the animal that is more effienct in it's energy usage but incapable to the raw 'power' of a lion or tiger.

OH, hell yes --- pride of lions; he lies about while all of the females do the work - make the kills - raise the litters - and let 'HIM' eat first!  UGH 

hey and interesting Idea the world could be better if Idiots just knew they were idiots.
that would be good. we don;t need to be smarter we just need idiots that try and restrict learning and knowledge to get out of the way

veya_victaous wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

not quite, large cats are one of the most successful predators and they have huge energy usage, that is why cats are lazy.
but that huge energy usage means that in a moment of conflict, they simply kill the animal that is more effienct in it's energy usage but incapable to the raw 'power' of a lion or tiger.

Tigers sleep 18-20 hours a day! They use a lot of energy for those other 4-6 hours, but most of the time they're using very little.

cause they use so much energy when they do stuff. they need that much time to recover.
besides, Humans succeed from the Opposite having so much energy we do stuff all day instead of sleep.
and the ultimate low energy users are plants that are more or less at everyone's mercy.

energy usage isn't the deciding factor, look at the pretty birds that have evolved to waste energy on coloured plumage.
In fact all art can be seen as a waste of energy as it doesn't contribute to increased survival.
even space travel is a waste of energy on the scale of a single life time... but on a large scale and if we accept the post-Darwinian theories that include 'tribal' evolution then wasting that energy now over a couple of generations, working out how to get to space provides a huge increase to chances of survival as a species long term.. if an asteroid comes etc

KOALAS and possums sleep all day, as well..

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

KOALAS and possums sleep all day, as well..

I knew I should've been a cute koala

Ben_Reilly wrote:I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

And the above is something you would not allow to even happen, if you were twice as intelligent.
You would not allow negative emotions to govern your views.
Emotional intelligence is important in that it helps ensure that we treat each other well, but negative emotion, is what causes conflict, division, hate, anger, violence etc. If we are that much more intelligent we would not allow such things to cloud rational thinking.
Its the ability to learn from mistakes and make them right, that makes humans to be as advanced as they have become.
There has been many mistakes and no doubt yet more to come, but it has been this learning curve that has seen are cognitive levels continue to advance through the centuries.

Paul Ettinger wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I think more of us would realize that the species that survive are the ones that get by using the least amount of energy needed to survive. Any species that is a glutton for energy like we are is likely doomed in the long run.

And the above is something you would not allow to even happen, if you were twice as intelligent.
You would not allow negative emotions to govern your views.
Emotional intelligence is important in that it helps ensure that we treat each other well, but negative emotion, is what causes conflict, division, hate, anger, violence etc. If we are that much more intelligent we would not allow such things to cloud rational thinking.
Its the ability to learn from mistakes and make them right, that makes humans to be as advanced as they have become.
There has been many mistakes and no doubt yet more to come, but it has been this learning curve that has seen are cognitive levels continue to advance through the centuries.

WOWSERS...don't know what hypnotic/lobotomy or  joint you've gone too for the drastic change...but had your demeanor been this 'mellow' on the day I joined --- well, your sudden EMOTIONAL GROWTH is quite refreshing
So whatever it is that your ...
DO NOT GIVE IT UP --- it's making for quite a better-mellow humanoid in YOU! 

4EVER2 wrote:

Paul Ettinger wrote:
And the above is something you would not allow to even happen, if you were twice as intelligent.
You would not allow negative emotions to govern your views.
Emotional intelligence is important in that it helps ensure that we treat each other well, but negative emotion, is what causes conflict, division, hate, anger, violence etc. If we are that much more intelligent we would not allow such things to cloud rational thinking.
Its the ability to learn from mistakes and make them right, that makes humans to be as advanced as they have become.
There has been many mistakes and no doubt yet more to come, but it has been this learning curve that has seen are cognitive levels continue to advance through the centuries.

WOWSERS...don't know what hypnotic/lobotomy or  joint you've gone too for the drastic change...but had your demeanor been this 'mellow' on the day I joined --- well, your sudden EMOTIONAL GROWTH is quite refreshing
So whatever it is that your ...
DO NOT GIVE IT UP --- it's making for quite a better-mellow humanoid in YOU! 

Well thanks for your immature reply which simply did not even debate any point


Let me know when you want to act like an adult and actually take on the points

Didge's post is pretty much spot on though.
It's a good answer.

eddie wrote:Didge's post is pretty much spot on though.
It's a good answer.

INDEED...remarkable and vastly improved; guess it suits the thread in many facets as well.  LOL