Does intelligence imply contradiction?
Abstract
Description
Contradiction is often seen as a defect of intelligent systems and a dangerous limitation on efficiency. In this paper we raise the question of whether, on the contrary, it could be considered a key tool in increasing intelligence in biological structures. A possible way of answering this question in a mathematical context is shown, formulating a proposition that suggests a link between intelligence and contradiction.
A concrete approach is presented in the well-defined setting of cellular automata. Here we define the models of ``observer'', ``entity'', ``environment'', ``intelligence'' and ``contradiction''. These definitions, which roughly correspond to the common meaning of these words, allow us to deduce a simple but strong result about these concepts in an unbiased, mathematical manner. Evidence for a real-world counterpart to the demonstrated formal link between intelligence and contradiction is provided by three computational experiments.
39 pages, 6 figures; added Remark 9 (page 19) and Remark 12 (page 25); changed some comments after Definition 13 and in Section 5; some minor changes
39 pages, 6 figures; added Remark 9 (page 19) and Remark 12 (page 25); changed some comments after Definition 13 and in Section 5; some minor changes