Musings about intelligence

[lionkingcmsl]

While thinking about recent deaths I got wondering about "why sentience"?
Some people believe that this is all there is. There is no afterlife. After we die we just rot and everything is gone.

If that is the case what evolutionary advantage does sentience offer compared to non-sentience. The so-called “lower animals” get along quite well; being, as far as we humans can determine, non-sentient.
If sentience does bring an evolutionary advantage it is not clear cut, in my mind. Also if there is no afterlife where is the motivation to do “right”? If we just rot with no promise of reward why should we care if we do “right”. After we are dead we won’t care what we did during our time here and won’t care what history writes about us.

Forget about human technological prowess. I am talking about basic needs, wants and desires. At times our most base, primal, instincts come to the fore and we are hard pressed to suppress them. War is a good example of what I’m talking about. War is the basic need for territory writ very large. Religious wars are a human concept that builds on that most basic need of having space for oneself. The animals also wage “war” with one another when they are defending their territory. Take a lion pride for example. The male of the pride will defend his stake in the pride from an interloper trying to oust him. This is war on a small, localized, scale; with only a few combatants involved.

All this is accomplished without sentience. So my question is: “Why is sentience an evolutionary advantage? Is it not more of a handicap?”

I also have questions about the afterlife, but that will wait until another time.

Comments

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

What advantage does sentience give evolutionarly speaking?

Consider three groups; team hunters, team hunters and toolmakers, team hunters and toolmakers with writing.

Team hunters all can work as a group to hunt larger prey. But the ones that make tools are more efficent and can not only take out bigger prey, but can take out the previous hunters who have only sticks. And the team hunters that record how to make their tools rather than losing the skill when the toolmaker dies suddenly (a common occurrance way back when I'm sure) never lose their advantage, unlike the toolmakers who don't write.

So sentience -- writing and speech -- gives evolutionary advantage against prey and against enemy tribes competing for the food, land, and women.

What's a kickass thought experiment is to look at the path of evolution up to now, and theorize what the NEXT advantage could be. If communication led to sentience, what does sentience lead up to?

[mooncat.livejournal.com]

Well, one evolutionary benefit of sentience is to understand one's impact on one's surroundings, and be able to effect change. No longer would a being have to worry about adapting to their surroundings, rather, they could change their surroundings to suit them.


Though I have to say one need not believe in a higher power in order to act in a moral fashion. I am, for all intents and purposes, an atheist (consider me secular humanist, if one must use labels) and you do not see me running around killing, stealing and wreaking havoc. I act in a 'good' manner because it is how I wish to act. I choose these actions not out of fear for some potential after death punishment, but because it is what feels right to me.

yes, sentience can be a handicap at times. We are self aware, and know that our actions have consequences. Other animals do not, and may take chances where we hesitate, and perhaps succeed where we fail.