Intelligence in Nature - Jeremy Narby [40]
He asked me to explain my interest in his work. I told him that studying the knowledge of indigenous Amazonians had led me to investigate intelligence in nature. He listened, then commented on the problem Western people have with applying the concept of âintelligenceâ to nature. He said it was possibly due to the influence of Christianity. I had not turned on the tape recorder yet. I asked him to pause briefly while I did so. Then he resumed and described the conditions in which he and two colleaguesâone Japanese and one Hungarianâhad published their experimental demonstration that a true slime mold can solve a maze. Nakagaki and his Japanese colleague did not hesitate to refer to âintelligenceâ in their conclusion. But the Hungarian co-author proposed to delete the term. The two Japanese scientists prevailed, and the journal Nature duly published their paper containing the word intelligence. Much media attention ensued, both in Japan and abroad. Nakagaki said, âI have, in the course of my press interviews about this subject, found myself discussing with foreign reporters just what intelligence is. Whereas Japanese reporters were most deeply concerned with the details of just how such an organism was able to solve a maze, those from overseas tended to focus on whether or not the phenomenon represented intelligence.â
He attributed this difference to religion. âI got the feeling that some Western people, possibly because of the influence of Christianity, may feel somewhat uncomfortable when faced with the possibility of intelligence other than human.â In Japan, he said, people do not hesitate to refer to nature, and even to materials, as intelligent. âIn Japanese culture, we have a religion of Shinto, which is a sort of animism. So we are likely to accept that everything has spirit, or something like that. This is quite a natural thing for me,â he said, laughing.
He got out of his swivel chair, went to the writing board, and marked the Japanese term for intelligence: chi-sei, in which chi means to know, to recognize, and sei means property, or character, or feature. Like knowingness, or recognizing-ness. He pronounced it CHEE-SAY.
âChi-sei is the term used to translate the English term intelligence. But I feel there is some difference between these two words, in their background meaning.â He wrote the word intelligence on the board: âI feel that behind this term, there is Western Christian culture, in which intelligence is a gift from the God to humans only.â He laughed, then went to his desk and pulled out an article entitled âSmart Behavior of True Slime Mold in a Labyrinth.â He handed it to me, saying it contained his view on the definition of intelligence.
I had already read this article by Nakagaki, in which he reflects on what the true slime mold actually does in the maze. By adjusting its body shape to occupy the shortest route between two food sources, it optimizes its intake of nutrients and its chances of survival. âIf the survival mechanism works well even in complicated and difficult situations, then the behavior seems to be smart,â Nakagaki writes. âAll biological systems must be rather smart. It is not yet known how smart the microorganisms are. In fact, (true slime mold) Physarumâs smartness may be more involved than simply maze solving because life in the wild is more complicated and difficult.â
When I first read this article, I wondered what difference Nakagaki made between intelligence and smartness. I put the question to him. âWhen I use the term smart, Western people agree,â he replied, laughing. âRecently I have only used the term smartness.â
I asked whether smartness corresponds to the Japanese term chi-sei. He said, âJust a moment pleaseâ and went back to the drawing board. He seemed at ease standing up, writing out words, and drawing connections between them. He explained that in Japan, people call chemical materials that have functions intelligent materials. But in English, the corresponding term is smart materials. âI didnât know this correspondence,â he said. âI thought Western people