Machiavellian intelligence
In intelligence research and behavioral biology, Machiavellian intelligence describes the ability of a living being to successfully deal with other group members in a social group. The term refers to the work written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1513 on the theory of political action The Prince .
development
In 1976, primate researcher Nicholas Humphrey hypothesized that the higher intellectual abilities of primates did not evolve through adaptation to nature, but through adaptation to the perils of social life. This leads to humans and other primates applying forms of thinking that are initially suitable for solving social problems to other areas and even to inanimate nature.
In 1982, the behavioral scientist Frans de Waal transferred Machiavelli's political theories on the government of a state to social groups of humans and great apes, including the family. In his opinion, entire passages from Machiavelli's work were confirmed by his observations of the behavior of groups of chimpanzees . De Waal looks at animals in social associations in their relationship to potential sexual partners, competitors, allies and enemies. Orientation and interaction in such a complex network of relationships require a high level of brain power that surpasses that of loners. Chimpanzees and bonobos could empathize, feign, deceive and lie in the feelings of other individuals. Such abilities are explained as having an advantage in the chance of reproduction.
Proponents of the thesis of a Machiavellian intelligence consider the requirements in dealing with nature, such as protection from predators and foraging for food, as problems that make certain, but also limited, cognitive demands. On the other hand, the driving force behind the development of higher intellectual abilities is competition within the social group. This explains that when comparing the different species of monkeys and primates, the average percentage of the neocortex in the total brain of an individual increases with the number of members of the social group in which it lives.
It is currently unknown whether adaptation to technical or social challenges is more important for the development of human intelligence.
See also
literature
- Nicholas K. Humphrey : The social function of the intellect (PDF file; 94 kB), in PPG Bateson and RA Hinde (eds.): Growing Points in Ethology , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1976, pages 303-317 (English)
- Frans de Waal : Chimpanzee Politics , 1982 (English)
- Richard W. Byrne , Andrew Whiten : Machiavellian intelligence , Oxford University Press, Oxford 1988 (English)
- Thomas Knecht: What is Machiavellian intelligence? Reflections on a little-noticed side of our psyche, Der Nervenarzt , issue 75, number 1, January 2004, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, doi: 10.1007 / s00115-003-1543-0
- Thomas Junker : Die Evolution des Menschen , CH Beck, 2006, ISBN 3-406-53609-3 (Beck'sche series 2409)