Perceptual Intelligence

On page thirty five of Fluid Concepts, by Douglas Hofstadter, the author mentions his desire to program intelligence, not knowledge. The distinction made is a very important one, what does intelligence and knowledge mean to you? I have read many different definitions of intelligence and Hofstadter’s is one of the more succinct explanations. Hofstadter comments that intelligence must have a powerful, general, and abstract knowledge based core, but I believe it must go further than that. Many people also agree that intelligence must contain an element of prediction and foresight, again something is still lacking here. I believe strongly that intelligence must include an element of adaptability, as well. Hofstadter makes a valid reference to this by stating that throughout history younger individuals with an incredibly small knowledge base have made amazing insights into complex fields. Usually, younger brains have greater ease to adapt, form new neural networks and to view abstractions in a completely new way. This makes me ponder another factor of intelligence, perception and imagination. Does one’s ability to transform their perception and increase their imagination affect their intelligence? Hofstadter mentions the element of esthetic driven perception aiding him in the triangle between squares problem, but disabling him to see Gosper’s approach to the continued fraction of e. Perception is a very powerful window into one’s mind and thought process, but when utilized, focused perception can be a double edged sword. Individuals past experiences and perceptual grouping biases can disable them in some ways and aid them in others. It seems to me that keeping an open mind and refreshing your point of view is in fact an undeniable quality of intelligence. A good example to support this would be the recent workings and solutions to particular cryptology math problems I competed. At first glance I was able to solve about four of the ten problems present, usually by cancelling out the most noticeable numbers. However, later when I tried the same strategy on the remaining six problems I came up with no solutions. When I perceptually regrouped the numbers and approached the problems in a different way I was able to find many of the solutions. This happens to most people when they are stumped on a problem and then approach it the next day and find the solution almost immediately. Our ability to adapt differently and perceive problems from many points of view is an essential key to our intelligence.