Seven Survival Senses: Evolutionary Training makes Discerning Differences more Natural than Spotting Similarities

TL;DR

This paper explores the idea that sensory systems may have evolved primarily to detect differences for survival, proposing that training can make discerning differences more natural than spotting similarities, with implications for education and intelligence measurement.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that sensory development is more focused on difference detection and suggests methods to enhance this ability, including mathematical education and a new intelligence measure.

Findings

Preliminary experiments support difference detection as a key sensory function.

Training can potentially make discerning differences more natural than spotting similarities.

Proposes the Involvement Quotient as an alternative measure of intelligence.

Abstract

We discuss preliminary results from two experiments and put forth the notion that the development of sensory systems might be more geared towards discerning differences rather than for spotting similarities. We present the possibility that the necessity to spot differences might have evolved to ensure the survival of the organism, which suggests numerous other experiments to assess the response of participants to various stimuli. We consider our present state of affairs, wherein the need is to thrive and not merely survive, which requires us to spot similarities around us. We provide some suggestions on how this attribute can be developed, which includes mathematical education. We conclude with an alternate measure for intelligence, termed the Involvement Quotient (also, IQ), which gauges the level of involvement of the sense organs to whatever is happening around the individual.