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Fruit Flies are Better at Calculus than You

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where is intelligence located (Score: 4, Interesting)

by rocks@pipedot.org on 2014-03-20 22:28 (#QH)

in biological organisms. We typically think about the mind being in the brain, but studies like this suggest that intelligence can be distributed through the body.

Notwithstanding the obvious other "brains" we might joke about having, I wonder how distributed human intelligence is and where we draw the line between a "mechanical" response versus an "intelligent" one from a given subsystem of the body.

Re: where is intelligence located (Score: 3, Informative)

by guises@pipedot.org on 2014-03-21 03:19 (#QP)

Usually it isn't phrased as intelligence vs. not, it's described as conscious vs. unconscious. Conscious thought does happen in the brain, but a lot of unconscious things that you do are more distributed. Sneezing, orgasms, some reactions, are managed by your spinal cord.

There was that famous headless chicken, forget his name, that survived for quite a long time with no brain.

Re: where is intelligence located (Score: 3, Interesting)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-03-21 09:21 (#QR)

There's the famous muscle memory as well, not exactly an issue of intelligence, but habitual movement of certain muscle groups when certain neurons fire. 250 beats per second is pretty impressive, and being able to correct in 3 beats is also impressive. But somehow it's not surprising - if you're a fruitfly, remaining airborne seems like it should be what you focus most of your mental energy on.

Re: where is intelligence located (Score: 3, Informative)

by nightsky30@pipedot.org on 2014-03-21 11:56 (#QV)

This article suggests muscles retain information about the individual's past muscular fitness and ability through use of DNA. DNA memory coupled with millions of years of selective evolution would create some pretty efficient muscular systems (If said memory can be passed down through offspring).

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Time Reason Points Voter
2014-03-21 18:32 Informative +1 kerrany@pipedot.org
2014-03-21 12:09 Informative +1 rocks@pipedot.org

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