Midweek Review
The toolbox of intelligence
We humans are proud of a lot of things, from rocket science to particle accelerators and even to fine poetry, just to mention a few. All of them are there because of something the Homo sapiens value most, the enigmatic attribute called intelligence. We think of intelligence as a trait, like height, weight or strength but when we actually try to define it, things get a little blurry and somewhat difficult. It is by no means a finite entity. This article attempts to delve into a few aspects of the ocean of knowledge that constitutes “Intelligence”, from instinctive behaviour to learned patterns.
How can we determine levels of intelligence? Based on a person’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) perhaps? IQ is a type of somewhat nebulous quantification of intelligence, assessed through standardised testing. Most of the human inhabitants of the world have an IQ averaging around 100, though it differs from place to place. However, the real level of intelligence is part nature and part nurture. We are all born with a certain type of entrenched common sense, yet a special few have an incredibly cryptic attribute known as intelligence. Intellect and cleverness are generally nurtured by the environment that we are born into and the opportunities that are presented to us from very early on in our lives. On a careful evaluation, it is apparent that even animals have been shown to display numerous signs of advanced intelligence and cognition. Intelligence is a multifaceted assortment of tools that is not uniquely species-specific and which enables us to survive in an increasingly complex world.
In a nutshell, intelligence may be delineated as a mechanism to solve problems, especially the problem of staying alive and propagating the species, which involves finding food and shelter, fighting sexual competitors or fleeing from predators, among many other things. Intelligence is not just one single thing but it involves the ability to gather knowledge, to learn, to be creative, form strategies and engage in critical thinking. It manifests itself in a huge variety of behaviour patterns. This latter could vary from hard-wired or instinctive responses to different degrees of earning and even to some sort of awareness of very many things. However, not all scientists agree about where it begins or what even should count as intelligence. To make it even more complicated, intelligence is also connected to consciousness since awareness is essential for problem-solving.
Therefore, all what this means is that intelligence is not all that clear-cut. We can perhaps think of it more like a flexible set of skills: a kind of a toolbox containing a variety of different tools. The most basic tools in this intelligence toolbox are the abilities to gather information, save it and use it to learn. Information about everything around us is gathered through our special senses such as vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The gathered information helps us to navigate through life and react to the external world fittingly and properly. However, living things also need to keep track of the state of their own bodies, monitoring things like hunger and fatigue. Information is the basis of action for all living organisms, including humans, and without it we will be at the mercy of our surroundings, unable to react properly or flexibly. Information is extremely important and much more powerful only if we can save and keep it. Therefore, in such a perspective, a second vital tool is memory, which is the ability to save and recall information. It implies that a living being does not have to start from scratch, every time it perceives something relevant. Memory can be about events, places and associations as well as behaviour patterns such as hunting and foraging methods. Some of these like flying an aircraft have to be repeated or practiced over and over, again and again, till they are mastered. This is what is referred to as learning; the process of putting together a sequence of thoughts and/or actions. This process is basically a thread of repeatable behaviour patterns that can be varied and adapted according to needs as well as changing circumstances. It is most important to recognise that these three tools; ability to gather information, memory and learning, enable seemingly stupid creatures to act in surprisingly intelligent ways.
Some examples from other species of animals help to further explain some of these concepts. The acellular slime mould, which is just a single large slimy cell, shows a behaviour pattern similar to an animal with a very simple brain. When put in a maze with food at one end, the slime mould explores its surroundings and marks its path with slime trails; a sort of smearing memories of a path already taken on the ground. As it continues on this venture of exploration, it avoids the marked pathways and finds its way to the food. Thereby, this organism, instead of getting stuck in dead-ends, adapts its behaviour to save time and effort. This behaviour is hardwired and scientists have failed to agree whether it is a manifestation of intelligence although it does give the slime mould a certain advantage.
Bees are an example of more adaptive smart behaviour. Scientists trained bumblebees to move a coloured ball into a goal post for a sugar reward. Not only the bees were very skilful at this behaviour pattern, which really was not a natural phenomenon for them, but they got more and more efficient over time. When several balls were made available, the bees chose the ball that laid closest to the goal, even if it was a different colour to the ball that they were trained with. This was a fine example of learning, followed by appropriate and intelligent behaviour.
For more challenging problems, we need even more flexibility and a higher degree of adaptability, and even fancier tools. Building on the basic tools, the more complex animals have a wider range of problems that they may be able to solve. They can memorise all kinds of associations, connections and even mechanical tricks. We call this tool ‘The Library of Knowledge’. As an example, look at raccoons. Their favourite type of food is the same as human food. Their approach to getting hold of such treats depends upon an admirable assortment of theoretical and practical skills that makes them super master burglars, able to open windows or even pick locks. In a research study, raccoons were given boxes secured with different kinds of locks, such as latches, bolts, plugs or push bars. They actually needed less than 10 attempts to figure out how to open each box. Even when different locks were put together into increasingly difficult combinations that had to be solved in a given correct order and with different amounts of strength, they managed to open them without much of a hassle. Quite surprisingly perhaps, even a year later, the raccoons remembered how to open the boxes and were as fast as when they had first solved the puzzle. These experiments documented assessment, adaptation and useful memory as some of the important components of intelligence in the animal kingdom.
Beyond our library of associations and skills, the most impressive tool in our toolbox is creativity; a kind of mental duct tape. Being creative means producing something new, useful and valuable, from apparently unrelated things. In the context of intelligence, this means making entirely new and unusual connections. It involves pairing input with memories and skills, to come up with a unique and new solution to a problem. In another raccoon study, researchers showed these animals, that by dropping pebbles into a narrow water tank, into which they could not get in, they could raise the water level sufficiently to enable them to reach a marshmallow floating at the top. Quite surprisingly, one raccoon came up with a much better solution: it just tipped the tub over…, an impressive example of innovation.
Another facet of creativity is applying a new resource to a given task, like physical tools and implements. This is like primates that use sticks to fish for termites in trees, or some octopuses which assemble collected coconut shells around themselves as a kind of portable armour to hide from enemies. Collecting materials for later use is connected to an even more advanced dimension of problem-solving, which is planning. This component of planning means considering the activities required for a desired goal and putting them together into a strategy. When unforeseen circumstances and new possibilities present themselves, they need to be assessed according to whether they match the plan or not. A classic example of this type of intelligent behaviour, particularly seen during these Covid-19 days, is hoarding of food to eat it later. This is also an instinctive behaviour in squirrels. However, even though hiding food comes instinctively to them, they still need to use advanced thinking skills to make the best decisions. They examine every nut and weigh the time and effort that would take to hide it, against the benefits they would get from each nut. Damaged and low-fat nuts are eaten right away while those that still need to ripen go into the stockpile. Squirrels also pretend to bury nuts when they feel that they are being watched. Such empty caches distract rivals from their real treasures. This indeed is pretty advanced strategizing because to make a plan to distract another, one has to first be aware that there are others like you who want the same things.
The more complex the problem, more are the tools that would be needed in combination, to solve it. So, the more tools that are there in the intelligence toolbox, the more flexibility an animal or a person has, to solve the problems and challenges that life throws at them. However, even for complex problems and challenges, each animal’s individual situation is what counts. For example, squirrels are omnivores that defend their territories fiercely. For them, it seems to make sense for them to be able to remember where there is food available in different locations and trick their enemies away from food, to improve their own chances of survival. In contrast, sheep do not have any such refined tricks up their sleeves. In point of fact, they do not actually need to have such guiles. They are grazers and live in flocks. The skills relevant to them are social ones. They recognise and remember many different sheep, even humans, for years; a completely different skill. Evolving and retaining a complex set of mental abilities such as safeguarding food security, which they might never have to use, would be a sheer waste of precious resources to them. This is indeed a form of differentiating ability of intelligence which enables the animal to just concentrate on things that matter.
As the most advanced creatures in the animal kingdom, humans have gone in the opposite direction and invested in an unusually diverse intelligence toolkit. While this may have been helpful, we have added another set of tools on top, perhaps by accident. That is the thing called culture. No single person could ever build a space rocket or a particle accelerator. However, thanks to our ability to work together and to share knowledge across even generations, we can overcome challenges beyond the capabilities of any single individual. That is the culture of collaboration. Unbelievable achievements, bordering even on fiction, could be accomplished through such a culture of collaboration. This has also allowed us to shape our planet to our liking. However, in that process, we have also created new problems such as climate change and antibiotic resistance, just to name two. To solve these, we will need to look well past short-term survival and think about the distant future. In such situations, we will be compelled to delve deeply into our intelligence toolbox. We do have a really superb toolbox; we just need to use it judiciously.
Some of the material presented has been extracted from Defining Intelligence Through Science – BabaMail. “What is intelligence? Where does it begin?” Available from https://www.ba-bamail.com/video.aspx?emailid=37761;
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It is a pleasure to be here today, when the University resumes postgraduate work in English and Education which we first embarked on over 20 years ago. The presence of a Professor on English Language Teaching from Kelaniya makes clear that the concept has now been mainstreamed, which is a cause for great satisfaction.
Twenty years ago, this was not the case. Our initiative was looked at askance, as indeed was the initiative which Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare engaged in as UGC Chairman to make degrees in English more widely available. Those were the days in which the three established Departments of English in the University system, at Peradeniya and Kelaniya and Colombo, were unbelievably conservative. Their contempt for his efforts made him turn to Sri Jayewardenepura, which did not even have a Department of English then and only offered it as one amongst three subjects for a General Degree.
Ironically, the most dogmatic defence of this exclusivity came from Colombo, where the pioneer in English teaching had been Prof. Chitra Wickramasuriya, whose expertise was, in fact, in English teaching. But her successor, when I tried to suggest reforms, told me proudly that their graduates could go on to do postgraduate degrees at Cambridge. I suppose that, for generations brought up on idolization of E. F. C. Ludowyke, that was the acme of intellectual achievement.
I should note that the sort of idealization of Ludowyke, the then academic establishment engaged in was unfair to a very broadminded man. It was the Kelaniya establishment that claimed that he ‘maintained high standards, but was rarefied and Eurocentric and had an inhibiting effect on creative writing’. This was quite preposterous coming from someone who removed all Sri Lankan and other post-colonial writing from an Advanced Level English syllabus. That syllabus, I should mention, began with Jacobean poetry about the cherry-cheeked charms of Englishwomen. And such a characterization of Ludowyke totally ignored his roots in Sri Lanka, his work in drama which helped Sarachchandra so much, and his writing including ‘Those Long Afternoons’, which I am delighted that a former Sabaragamuwa student, C K Jayanetti, hopes to resurrect.
I have gone at some length into the situation in the nineties because I notice that your syllabus includes in the very first semester study of ‘Paradigms in Sri Lankan English Education’. This is an excellent idea, something which we did not have in our long-ago syllabus. But that was perhaps understandable since there was little to study then except a history of increasing exclusivity, and a betrayal of the excuse for getting the additional funding those English Departments received. They claimed to be developing teachers of English for the nation; complete nonsense, since those who were knowledgeable about cherries ripening in a face were not likely to move to rural areas in Sri Lanka to teach English. It was left to the products of Aluwihare’s initiative to undertake that task.
Another absurdity of that period, which seems so far away now, was resistance to training for teaching within the university system. When I restarted English medium education in the state system in Sri Lanka, in 2001, and realized what an uphill struggle it was to find competent teachers, I wrote to all the universities asking that they introduce modules in teacher training. I met condign refusal from all except, I should note with continuing gratitude, from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, where Paru Nagasunderam introduced it for the external degree. When I started that degree, I had taken a leaf out of Kelaniya’s book and, in addition to English Literature and English Language, taught as two separate subjects given the language development needs of students, made the third subject Classics. But in time I realized that was not at all useful. Thankfully, that left a hole which ELT filled admirably at the turn of the century.
The title of your keynote speaker today, Professor of English Language Teaching, is clear evidence of how far we have come from those distant days, and how thankful we should be that a new generation of practical academics such as her and Dinali Fernando at Kelaniya, Chitra Jayatilleke and Madhubhashini Ratnayake at USJP and the lively lot at the Postgraduate Institute of English at the Open University are now making the running. I hope Sabaragamuwa under its current team will once again take its former place at the forefront of innovation.
To get back to your curriculum, I have been asked to teach for the paper on Advanced Reading and Writing in English. I worried about this at first since it is a very long time since I have taught, and I feel the old energy and enthusiasm are rapidly fading. But having seen the care with which the syllabus has been designed, I thought I should try to revive my flagging capabilities.
However, I have suggested that the university prescribe a textbook for this course since I think it is essential, if the rounded reading prescribed is to be done, that students should have ready access to a range of material. One of the reasons I began while at the British Council an intensive programme of publications was that students did not read round their texts. If a novel was prescribed, they read that novel and nothing more. If particular poems were prescribed, they read those poems and nothing more. This was especially damaging in the latter case since the more one read of any poet the more one understood what he was expressing.
Though given the short notice I could not prepare anything, I remembered a series of school textbooks I had been asked to prepare about 15 years ago by International Book House for what were termed international schools offering the local syllabus in the English medium. Obviously, the appalling textbooks produced by the Ministry of Education in those days for the rather primitive English syllabus were unsuitable for students with more advanced English. So, I put together more sophisticated readers which proved popular. I was heartened too by a very positive review of these by Dinali Fernando, now at Kelaniya, whose approach to students has always been both sympathetic and practical.
I hope then that, in addition to the texts from the book that I will discuss, students will read other texts in the book. In addition to poetry and fiction the book has texts on politics and history and law and international relations, about which one would hope postgraduate students would want some basic understanding.
Similarly, I do hope whoever teaches about Paradigms in English Education will prescribe a textbook so that students will understand more about what has been going on. Unfortunately, there has been little published about this but at least some students will I think benefit from my book on English and Education: In Search of Equity and Excellence? which Godage & Bros brought out in 2016. And then there was Lakmahal Justified: Taking English to the People, which came out in 2018, though that covers other topics too and only particular chapters will be relevant.
The former book is bulky but I believe it is entertaining as well. So, to conclude I will quote from it, to show what should not be done in Education and English. For instance, it is heartening that you are concerned with ‘social integration, co-existence and intercultural harmony’ and that you want to encourage ‘sensitivity towards different cultural and linguistic identities’. But for heaven’s sake do not do it as the NIE did several years ago in exaggerating differences. In those dark days, they produced textbooks which declared that ‘Muslims are better known as heavy eaters and have introduced many tasty dishes to the country. Watalappam and Buriani are some of these dishes. A distinguished feature of the Muslims is that they sit on the floor and eat food from a single plate to show their brotherhood. They eat string hoppers and hoppers for breakfast. They have rice and curry for lunch and dinner.’ The Sinhalese have ‘three hearty meals a day’ and ‘The ladies wear the saree with a difference and it is called the Kandyan saree’. Conversely, the Tamils ‘who live mainly in the northern and eastern provinces … speak the Tamil language with a heavy accent’ and ‘are a close-knit group with a heavy cultural background’’.
And for heaven’s sake do not train teachers by telling them that ‘Still the traditional ‘Transmission’ and the ‘Transaction’ roles are prevalent in the classroom. Due to the adverse standard of the school leavers, it has become necessary to develop the learning-teaching process. In the ‘Transmission’ role, the student is considered as someone who does not know anything and the teacher transmits knowledge to him or her. This inhibits the development of the student.
In the ‘Transaction’ role, the dialogue that the teacher starts with the students is the initial stage of this (whatever this might be). Thereafter, from the teacher to the class and from the class to the teacher, ideas flow and interaction between student-student too starts afterwards and turns into a dialogue. From known to unknown, simple to complex are initiated and for this to happen, the teacher starts questioning.’
And while avoiding such tedious jargon, please make sure their command of the language is better than to produce sentences such as these, or what was seen in an English text, again thankfully several years ago:
Read the story …
Hello! We are going to the zoo. “Do you like to join us” asked Sylvia. “Sorry, I can’t I’m going to the library now. Anyway, have a nice time” bye.
So Syliva went to the zoo with her parents. At the entrance her father bought tickets. First, they went to see the monkeys
She looked at a monkey. It made a funny face and started swinging Sylvia shouted: “He is swinging look now it is hanging from its tail its marvellous”
“Monkey usually do that’
I do hope your students will not hang from their tails as these monkeys do.
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By Satyajith Andradi
Quite understandably, the world of classical music is dominated by the brand images of great composers. It is their compositions that we very often hear. Further, it is their life histories that we get to know. In fact, loads of information associated with great names starting with Beethoven, Bach and Mozart has become second nature to classical music aficionados. The classical music industry, comprising impresarios, music publishers, record companies, broadcasters, critics, and scholars, not to mention composers and performers, is largely responsible for this. However, it so happens that classical music lovers are from time to time pleasantly struck by the irresistible charm and beauty of classical pieces, the origins of which are little known, if not through and through obscure. Intriguingly, most of these musical gems happen to be classical super – hits. This article attempts to present some of these famous pieces and their little-known composers.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D
The highly popular piece known as Pachelbel’s Canon in D constitutes the first part of Johann Pachelbel’s ‘Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and basso continuo’. The second part of the work, namely the gigue, is rarely performed. Pachelbel was a German organist and composer. He was born in Nuremburg in 1653, and was held in high esteem during his life time. He held many important musical posts including that of organist of the famed St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. He was the teacher of Bach’s elder brother Johann Christoph. Bach held Pachelbel in high regard, and used his compositions as models during his formative years as a composer. Pachelbel died in Nuremburg in 1706.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D is an intricate piece of contrapuntal music. The melodic phrases played by one voice are strictly imitated by the other voices. Whilst the basso continuo constitutes a basso ostinato, the other three voices subject the original tune to tasteful variation. Although the canon was written for three violins and continuo, its immense popularity has resulted in the adoption of the piece to numerous other combinations of instruments. The music is intensely soothing and uplifting. Understandingly, it is widely played at joyous functions such as weddings.
Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary
The hugely popular piece known as ‘Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary’ appeared originally as ‘ The Prince of Denmark’s March’ in Jeremiah Clarke’s book ‘ Choice lessons for the Harpsichord and Spinet’, which was published in 1700 ( Michael Kennedy; Oxford Dictionary of Music ). Sometimes, it has also been erroneously attributed to England’s greatest composer Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695 ) and called ‘Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary (Percy A. Scholes ; Oxford Companion to Music). This brilliant composition is often played at joyous occasions such as weddings and graduation ceremonies. Needless to say, it is a piece of processional music, par excellence. As its name suggests, it is probably best suited for solo trumpet and organ. However, it is often played for different combinations of instruments, with or without solo trumpet. It was composed by the English composer and organist Jeremiah Clarke.
Jeremiah Clarke was born in London in 1670. He was, like his elder contemporary Pachelbel, a musician of great repute during his time, and held important musical posts. He was the organist of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral and the composer of the Theatre Royal. He died in London in 1707 due to self – inflicted gun – shot injuries, supposedly resulting from a failed love affair.
Albinoni’s Adagio
The full title of the hugely famous piece known as ‘Albinoni’s Adagio’ is ‘Adagio for organ and strings in G minor’. However, due to its enormous popularity, the piece has been arranged for numerous combinations of instruments. It is also rendered as an organ solo. The composition, which epitomizes pathos, is structured as a chaconne with a brooding bass, which reminds of the inevitability and ever presence of death. Nonetheless, there is no trace of despondency in this ethereal music. On the contrary, its intense euphony transcends the feeling of death and calms the soul. The composition has been attributed to the Italian composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671 – 1750), who was a contemporary of Bach and Handel. However, the authorship of the work is shrouded in mystery. Michael Kennedy notes: “The popular Adagio for organ and strings in G minor owes very little to Albinoni, having been constructed from a MS fragment by the twentieth century Italian musicologist Remo Giazotto, whose copyright it is” (Michael Kennedy; Oxford Dictionary of Music).
Boccherini’s Minuet
The classical super-hit known as ‘Boccherini’s Minuet’ is quite different from ‘Albinoni’s Adagio’. It is a short piece of absolutely delightful music. It was composed by the Italian cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini. It belongs to his string quintet in E major, Op. 13, No. 5. However, due to its immense popularity, the minuet is performed on different combinations of instruments.
Boccherini was born in Lucca in 1743. He was a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart, and an elder contemporary of Beethoven. He was a prolific composer. His music shows considerable affinity to that of Haydn. He lived in Madrid for a considerable part of his life, and was attached to the royal court of Spain as a chamber composer. Boccherini died in poverty in Madrid in 1805.
Like numerous other souls, I have found immense joy by listening to popular classical pieces like Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, Albinoni’s Adagio and Boccherini’s Minuet. They have often helped me to unwind and get over the stresses of daily life. Intriguingly, such music has also made me wonder how our world would have been if the likes of Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert had never lived. Surely, the world would have been immeasurably poorer without them. However, in all probability, we would have still had Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, Albinoni’s Adagio, and Boccherini’s Minuet, to cheer us up and uplift our spirits.
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By Lynn Ockersz
The tax owed by him to Caesar,
Leaves our retiree aghast…
How is he to foot this bill,
With the few rupees,
He has scraped together over the months,
In a shrinking savings account,
While the fires in his crumbling hearth,
Come to a sputtering halt?
But in the suave villa next door,
Stands a hulk in shiny black and white,
Over a Member of the August House,
Keeping an eagle eye,
Lest the Rep of great renown,
Be besieged by petitioners,
Crying out for respite,
From worries in a hand-to-mouth life,
But this thought our retiree horrifies:
Aren’t his hard-earned rupees,
Merely fattening Caesar and his cohorts?
