OF IN DE PEN DENCE AND INTEGRATION (AGAIN)

F

or some reason, the typical mindset of psychologists in the Western

world cannot deal very easily with integrations of living components.

We have seen this prob lem in the nature- nurture debate with the no-

tion of additive genes and environments, and with individual diff erences

as the sums of in de pen dent eff ects. Yet, from the origins of life itself, so

much of what has evolved has depended on the interaction and integra-

tion of components. Th e evolution of intelligent systems is the most con-

spic u ous result of such integration and interaction. Th ose systems became

even more complex with the amalgamation of individual organisms into

social groups.

Th e advent of social aggregation, in fact, became a game changer for liv-

ing things and for sources of individual diff erences. Encounters with other

“objects” that are themselves animate, mobile, and unpredictable are al-

ready rather challenging. But when relations among them became collab-

orative, still further demands were made on intelligent systems. Yet social

cooperation emerged quite early in the evolution of species. It fi rst ap-

peared as occasional be hav ior patterns for dealing with changing environ-

ments. But then, with advantages manifest, it quickly took off ; it allowed

organisms to evolve more adaptable life styles and to survive in less hospi-

table circumstances. As a consequence, for at least two billion years, most

of life has not existed as individual units but as social conglomerates.

Th at has enormous implications for understanding intelligent systems

and the nature of individual diff erences. In this chapter, I examine those

8

POTENTIAL BETWEEN BRAINS

Social Intelligence

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