Intelligence as the Capacity to Overcome the Complexity of Information: Search for Unity in the Diverse Forms of Intelligence

The same term “intelligence” is used in different contexts as if there were a consensus on its meaning, even if already within the paradigmatic subject of human intelligence, the dominating view is that there are multiple (two, three, eight, or more) intelligences depending on the diverse criteria for being intelligent. This multiplicity increases when non-human agents are considered. This short paper serves as a preliminary report on a more comprehensive study, currently at the stage of preparation for publication, with the purpose to seek a uniform characteristic of intelligence formulated in terms of information and its complexity behind and above its diverse manifestations and instantiations in multiple contexts, including those of its human, animal, or other natural forms, as well as characteristics of artifacts. The proposed view of intelligence as the capacity to overcome the complexity of information unifies these manifestations, and not only sets foundations for their systematic study in already considered instances, but also allows effective seeking of its not-yet-known manifestations. Due to the limited volume of this paper, the focus is on the motivations for and feasibility of the more extensive study, with only an outline of the proposed view of a general concept of intelligence.