science

Intelligent Thought

Intelligent Thought is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Intelligent Thought rather than just read about it. In short: Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement is a 2006 book edited by John Brockman and published by Vintage Books. The book is a series of essays which discuss the idea that natural selection and evolution helps explain the world better than intelligent design.

Key takeaways

Intelligent Thought belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Intelligent Thought to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Intelligent Thought from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement is a 2006 book edited by John Brockman and published by Vintage Books. The book is a series of essays which discuss the idea that natural selection and evolution helps explain the world better than intelligent design. The contributors are Daniel Dennett, Scott Atran, Steven Pinker, Nicholas Humphrey, Tim White, Neil Shubin, Marc Hauser, Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne, Leonard Susskind, Frank Sulloway, Lee Smolin, Stuart A. Kauffman, Seth Lloyd, Lisa Randall, and Scott Sampson.

Notes

See also List of scientific societies rejecting intelligent design

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Intelligent Thought

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Intelligent Thought claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Intelligent Thought before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Intelligent Thought ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Intelligent Thought

In research: Intelligent Thought appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Intelligent Thought in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Intelligent Thought is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 English-language non-fiction books, 2006 anthologies, 2006 non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Intelligent Thought outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Intelligent Thought in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Intelligent Thought means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Intelligent Thought out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Intelligent Thought in simple terms?

Why does Intelligent Thought matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Intelligent Thought?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Intelligent Thought.