"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing..."

It seems like the more I learn, the less I really know.  Hence the title of today's post is one of my favorite quotes by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.  I don't recall where I first heard this analogy (and I may have embellished it a bit from wherever and whomever I first heard it), but I have often described the brain's capacity for new knowledge as a flat table.  Everything you learn - every new bit of knowledge, if you will - is like a marble.  When you learn something new, you add a new marble to the table.  As you get older, the table starts to fill up of course.  Eventually, in order to add a new marble to the table (i.e. a new bit of knowledge), another marble has to fall off the table!  I usually add a joke at the end that when you get too old and forgetful, you really have just lost all your marbles (incidentally, that's not where the old saying of "losing all of your marbles" comes from)!

We are learning a lot about intelligence.  As we learn more, we are starting to find out that many of the ideas and concepts about intelligence that we previously accepted as fact, no longer hold true.  For example, animals are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit.  Have you ever heard the term "bird brain"?  Birds have tiny brains relative to humans (and other primates too, for that matter), and for at least a hundred years or more, the size of the brain was thought to be a proxy measure for intelligence.  Hence, the term "bird brain" was used to refer to an annoyingly stupid person.  

As it turns out, birds have tiny brains so they can fly.  And, as it turns out, birds are a lot smarter than we think.  One of my favorite stories is about the ravens living on the grounds of the Tower of London (for another great story about my trip to the Tower of London several years ago, see my post, Risky Business).  Legend has it that the kingdom of England will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress (the legend is thought to have been started by Charles II).  Suffice it to say, these ravens are very well cared for by the "Beefeaters" (the also legendary Yeoman Warders).  Perhaps these birds are smart enough to realize that there's no reason to leave?  They literally get the royal treatment!

Ravens, as it turns out, are incredibly smart.  Humans have always been placed on a higher level of intelligence because we can think about and plan for events in the future.  Apes and other primates share this level of cognition, at least to some extent.  Surprisingly, so do ravens!  A few years ago, scientists were able to show that ravens can anticipate a future event based upon past experiences, i.e. their memory!  These scientists were also show that ravens can use tools and barter for food!  For example, when food was placed inside of a long tube, ravens were able to use a stick to poke the food out of the tube!

Have you seen the video about an octopus that can open a jar?  Or the Netflix movie, "My Octopus Teacher"?  Have you ever listened to the Beatles song, "Octopus Garden"?  Octopuses are extremely intelligent animals too - some would say that they are just as intelligent as cats and dogs!

Okay, I understand that ravens (and maybe even octopuses too) are not too distant from other mammals on the evolutionary tree.  Would you be more convinced if I claimed that insects appear to be intelligent?  I have also posted in the past about a study that showed that honey bees understood the concept of zero (see Weird Science).  I will admit, that is pretty cool.  But prepare to have your mind blown!  What about the poor, brainless slime mold?

As it turns out, even slime molds are smarter than we thought.  An article published in the journal Nature ("How brainless slime molds redefine intelligence") presented findings from a number of studies of a particular species of slime mold (Physarum polycephalum), commonly known as the "Sponge Bob Square Pants" slime mold, can "solve mazes, mimic the layout of man-made transportation networks and choose the healthiest food from a diverse menu."  Now, THAT is incredible!  

We are at a time in history when we understand - at an extraordinary level - the inner workings of the human body.  However - and it's a big however - we still have a relatively infantile understanding of the workings of the human brain.  As Socrates said, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."  As intelligent as we are, we still know relatively little about intelligence.  Just look at what Sponge Bob Square Pants slime mold can do.  Simply amazing.