Processors

It has become abundantly clear over the years that measures of "intelligence" are worthless. Yes, you can test abstracting ability, mathematical prowess, the ability to manipulate symbols, etc., but what on earth, when looked at in summary, does all that mean? Certainly intelligence testing in the past was too often no more than an elitist tool used to sort out who would be allowed to seek further education and who would not. Now SAT scores serve the same function. While there is no doubt that testing might well evaluate basic skills and readiness to proceed with what is, today, laughably, termed higher education, to often these scores are, again, no more than an elitist tool to thin out the population of those graduating from HS and applying to colleges. Here's a modification to testing that would prove useful - eliminate time restrictions. Take as long as you like on each section of the test. All processors do not operated at the same speed.

Gradually, I have come to realize that computer modeling represents an unconscious emulation of the function of our own brain. I do not believe, in fact, that we as humans are capable at all of what is loosely termed creative or innovative thought. The thoughts might be creative in light of what is currently understood, and innovative in production of useful tools, but all such thoughts derive from a common pool of knowledge that has been present for eons. Never has a statement been more true: there is nothing new under the sun. Everything we imagine is revealed from that common pool. Thing is, some folks are better at taping that pool than others. And education becomes (or should become) the study of tools that facilitate access to that gigantic pool of, for want of a better term, knowledge. There's the rub. Gaining language skills whether they be spoken, written or symbolic (e.g. mathematical symbols). Everything we learn during our education is a form of language skill. That's where processor speed comes in.

Does it matter if you can solve a problem in five minutes or fifty? Does it make you slow or dumb if it is the latter? If comprehension is primarily a function of processor speed, which I believe it is, what on earth does that have to do with basic potential or "intelligence"? I understand that in some business applications, speed is of the essence, but that still has nothing to do with basic ability. How many lives and dreams have been dashed because they were thought dumb? Potential scientists, musicians, scholars of any ilk - you name it.

So here I am viewing human function through a process of backward engineering, utilizing what I understand of computer function. In medical school I was constantly confronted with students whose processors were just an awful lot faster than mine. Still, the outcome was the same since I simply had to spend more time studying to arrive at the same spot. Now I understand there is much more to styles of cognitive thought than processor speed. It's called talent. But more on that later.