About

extelligence - its origins and meaning

. . . dogs, dolphins, squid have intelligence inside; for us humans . . . we have more intelligence outside than inside . . . our intelligence is only marginally greater than that of chimpanzees; it is extelligence that has driven our cultural growth and technology . . .

The word 'extelligence' was coined by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart (in Figments of Reality) to mean the 'complicity' between language and intelligence, adding "one of the universal features of complicity is the emergence of new patterns, new rules, new structures, new processes that were not present, even in rudimentary form, in the separate components".

"Extelligence is all of the 'cultural capital' that is available to us in the form of tribal legends, folklore, nursery tales, books, videotapes, CD-ROMs, and so on. However, 'extelligence' is not just a matter of 'keeping a record'. The intelligence of each individual allows them not only to access the cumulative body of extelligence, but to add to it or change it . . . the crucial feature that makes it worth inventing a new word to describe it is that extelligence functions in both directions. It is not just a passive recipient of human knowledge. It is a driving force that can affect our behaviour. If you need examples, consider Karl Marx's Das Kapital or the Bible."



The terms and conditions for using extelligence.org are here.