[MD] Food for Thought

[Case]

[Ian]
That's a recurring debate here, that one definition of intellect is
the ability to manipulate symbols. But I don't think it's good enough.
Once we move above level 2 (Life) to level 3/4 (Reflexive
consciousness, and symbol manipulation etc.) we have both social and
intellectual manipulation, and it's really culture that decides which
kind of manipulation is which. (As Arlo has clarified)

[Case]
I think Arlo has done an outstanding job of tying up much of what is at
stake in the intellectual level. I would only say that the advent of written
language created a geometric progression in the expansion of knowledge. So
much so that in the present it is impossible to say what is social and what
is intellectual. The two are confounded to such a degree that separating
them can only be done by way of definition. We can say that Math is purely
intellectual while sitting around the diner table is social. But simply
labeling levels and tinkering with their definition seems wholly artificial
to me.