Intuition, intelligence, data compression.

The main goal of my paper is to argue that data compression is a necessary condition for intelligence. One key motivation for this proposal stems from a paradox about intuition and intelligence. For the purposes of this paper, it will be useful to consider playing board games—such as chess and Go—as...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Synthese Vol. 198; no. 27; pp. 6469 - 6490
Main Author: Kipper, Jens
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Nov2021 Supplement 27
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=153553303&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 153553303
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00397857
        4LI
      jtl: Synthese
      issn: 00397857
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Nov2021 Supplement 27
      vid: 198
      iid: 27
      pid: 237
      pub: Springer Nature
    artinfo:
      ui:
        153553303
        10.1007/s11229-019-02118-8
      ppf: 6469
      ppct: 21
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 971KB
      tig:
        atl: Intuition, intelligence, data compression.
      aug:
        au: Kipper, Jens
        affil: Philosophy Department, University of Rochester, 56 Brittany Circle, 14618, Rochester, NY, USA
      su:
        Intuition
        Problem solving
        Cognition
        Board games
        Computer software
        Data compression
      sug:
        subj:
          Intuition
          Problem solving
          Cognition
          Board games
          Computer software
          Data compression
      keyword:
        Bounded rationality
        Chess
        Complexity theory
        Go
        Intelligence
      ab: The main goal of my paper is to argue that data compression is a necessary condition for intelligence. One key motivation for this proposal stems from a paradox about intuition and intelligence. For the purposes of this paper, it will be useful to consider playing board games—such as chess and Go—as a paradigm of problem solving and cognition, and computer programs as a model of human cognition. I first describe the basic components of computer programs that play board games, namely value functions and search functions. I then argue that value functions both play the same role as intuition in humans and work in essentially the same way. However, as will become apparent, using an ordinary value function is just a simpler and less accurate form of relying on a database or lookup table. This raises our paradox, since reliance on intuition is usually considered to manifest intelligence, whereas usage of a lookup table is not. I therefore introduce another condition for intelligence that is related to data compression. This proposal allows that even reliance on a perfectly accurate lookup table can be nonintelligent, while retaining the claim that reliance on intuition can be highly intelligent. My account is not just theoretically plausible, but it also captures a crucial empirical constraint. This is because all systems with limited resources that solve complex problems—and hence, all cognitive systems—need to compress data.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2021. All Rights Reserved.
      item: Synthese
      holder: Springer Nature
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2021
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N