What is Intelligence? What Do IQ Tests Really Measure? (Part 1)

Throughout history, Homo Sapiens (as well as our direct ancestors like Neanderthals and Australopithecus) have attempted to breakaway from nature; one of the many ties that bind us. Instead of being controlled by the whims of mother Earth and adapting to our environment, we try and make nature and our environment adapt to us. We have invented a great variety of tools in order to assist us in this capacity. Over time, humans even started to harness nature itself--raising plants and animals for food rather than gathering or hunting. There is little doubt that, for the most part, present day Homo Sapiens dominate nature.

Of course, we can debate the ways in which this practice is both beneficial and problematic, but such debates are for philosophers. Scientists are more concerned with how humans became so technologically efficient and how they ultimately came to dominate other species. Of course, many variables play a role in the Human’s rise to power, but the primary determining factor is what we call intelligence.

But there’s more to intelligence than meets the eye: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/intelligence-changing-what-you-think-you-know-part-one/

Image Credit: Andrew Councill/AFP/Getty Images

Crows Could be the Key to Helping Humanity Understand Alien Intelligence

Yes, you read that right, understanding how a crow"s brain works could lay the foundation to helping us understand how an alien mind might work. In case you don"t know, crows are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. They use tools and pass this knowledge onto their children, they will unite to fight a common enemy or intruder, and their ability to remember is almost unmatched. Recently, a study was conducted to see just how reasoning inside the bird"s brain works, because a avialan brain is very different from a mammalian brain. Here, the rabbit hole goes deeper than we could have possibly imagined.

Learn more about how crows are helping us understand aliens here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/crows-could-be-the-key-to-helping-humanity-understand-alien-intelligence/