Intelligence

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Intelligence (Latin: intelligentia "insight, cognitive faculty", from intellegere "to understand"; derived from inter "between" and legere "to read, choose"; Hebrew: שָׂכַל sakal) today refers in the broadest sense to the cognitive abilities to recognise connections, to abstract, to find optimal strategies for solving problems and to learn from the experience gained. In detail, the intellect enables us above all to spatial imagination, to plan ahead through virtual action in the imagination space, to counting and arithmetic, to language comprehension and fluency and dexterity in our own linguistic expression, to individual memory as the essential basis of our I-consciousness, to rapid and attention-guided perception and especially to logical thinking, in which the mind is reflected through the tool of the brain. This kind of intelligence can in principle be completely replicated by artificial intelligence and subsequently even far surpassed.

However, these cognitive abilities bound to the brain and the sensory organs, which are the sole focus of interest for the sciences today, represent only the smaller part of human intelligence. The concept of intelligence is therefore much broader. The actual creative-intuitive intelligence of the human being has its origin in the cosmic intelligence, which also has a formative effect on the whole of nature. This cosmic intelligence arises from the interaction of spiritual beings, which are above man in their degree of spiritual development. In the Middle Ages they were therefore called cosmic intelligences. It is they who also shape the whole of nature and work in every natural being. What distinguishes man from the other natural beings is that in the course of the development of mankind he has learnt to grasp this cosmic intelligence ever more actively and to make it his own, in order thereby to become ever more consciously and freely active himself creatively directly out of the spirit. The task of anthroposophical spiritual science is to promote this development ever further.

„The spirit is activity, is always activity. The spirit is creative. The spirit is the absolutely productive. The intellect is the passive image of the spirit.“ (Lit.:GA 305, p. 29)

Cosmic intelligence

→ Main article: Cosmic intelligence

Self-thinking, independent human thinking not based on revelation or inspiration, as already aspired to by Aristotle and then first taken up by Arabism, only really unfolded in Europe when cosmic intelligence escaped Michael and arrived on earth in the 8th century AD (Lit.:GA 40, p. 184).

„If we go back to ancient times of human development - I have already referred to this here in the lectures - it is not the case that man generates thoughts out of himself, that he thinks about things through his own power. For this inner ability of the soul to think, this inner activity of forming thoughts, has actually only been fully developed since the 15th century, since the penetration of the consciousness soul into the development of humanity. And if we go back to pre-Christian times, to ancient times, we find everywhere that people do not yet have the consciousness that they themselves think; they do not even feel that they have thoughts, but they feel: thoughts are revealed to them from things. Intelligence is cosmically spread everywhere. Intelligence is in things. And as one perceives the colours, so one perceives the intelligent content, the thought content of things. The world is full of intelligence. Everywhere is intelligent being. Man has, so to speak, acquired this intelligence in the course of recent times. One would like to say that intelligence is something that is spread throughout the world, of which man has received a drop everywhere in recent times. That then is the human being.

Drawing from GA 240, p. 238 (Plate 3)
Drawing from GA 240, p. 238 (Plate 3)

With the ancient man, however, it was in such a way that at every moment when he thought, he was conscious of the fact that the thoughts were inspired to him, revealed to him. He only attributed intelligence to the universe, not to himself.

Now, at all times, the administrator of this cosmic intelligence, which radiates from the sun like light over the whole world, has been the very spirit who is called Michael. Michael is the administrator of the cosmic intelligence. In more recent post-Christian times, however, the significant fact occurred that after the Mystery of Golgotha, Michael gradually lost the administration of intelligence, that it was lost to him. As long as the earth exists, Michael has administered the cosmic intelligence. And when a human being felt thoughts, that is, intelligent content, within himself, even in the time of Alexander, in the time of Aristotle, then he did not regard these thoughts as his own thought content, but as the thoughts revealed to him through the power of Michael, even if in those pagan times this being was called something else. But this thought content gradually fell away from Michael. And if we look into the spiritual world, we see this descent of intelligence from the sun to the earth, which took place up to the 8th century AD. In the 9th century after Christ, people begin, I would say, as a precursor of the later ones, to develop their own intelligence, and intelligence takes up residence in the souls of men. And Michael and his followers look down from the sun to the earth and can say: What we have administered through eons, that has sunk away from us, that has been lost to us, that has flowed down and is now in the souls of men on earth.“ (Lit.:GA 240, p. 237ff)

The highest form and source of all intelligence is cosmic intelligence, which Rudolf Steiner characterises succinctly thus:

„Intelligence consists of the mutual standards of conduct of the higher hierarchies. What they do, how they behave towards each other, how they are towards each other, that is cosmic intelligence.“ (Lit.:GA 237, p. 168)

Intelligence in Nature

Insofar as this cosmic intelligence is reflected in the whole of nature in the form of laws of nature, the latter is also to be regarded as intelligent insofar as it forms and behaves according to the order represented by the cosmic intelligence, right down to the inorganic realm, irrespective of whether or not consciousness and insight are associated with it. The laws of nature are, as many physicists also emphasise, something spiritual. The task of the natural sciences is to investigate the intelligence that is at work in nature. For example, the quantum chemist Walter Heitler writes:

„A mathematically formulated law is something spiritual. We can call it that because it is human spirit that recognises it. The term "spirit" may not be very popular today, when an exuberant materialism and positivism is producing its sometimes rather nasty flowers. But for this very reason we must be clear about what natural law and knowledge of nature is. Nature therefore follows this non-material spiritual element, the law. Consequently, spiritual elements are also anchored in nature itself. Among these is the mathematics necessary to formulate the law, even high and supreme mathematics. On the other hand, the researcher who is gifted to make a discovery is able to penetrate this very spiritual element that pervades nature. And here the connection between the human, discerning spirit and the transcendent elements existing in nature becomes apparent. We see the matter best if we use the Platonic mode of expression, although Plato did not yet know this kind of natural law. According to this, natural law would be an archetype, an "idea" - in the sense of the Greek word eidea - which nature follows and which man can perceive. This is then what is called the idea. Through this archetype, man is connected with nature. Man, who can perceive it, nature, which follows him as a law.“

– Walter Heitler: Naturwissenschaft ist Geisteswissenschaft, p. 14f.

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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