Intelligence Principle
Encyclopedia
The Intelligence Principle is a hypothetical central idea of cultural
evolution
.
Devised by the historian of science Steven J. Dick
, and outlined in his 2003 paper "Cultural Evolution, the Postbiological Universe and SETI," the Intelligence Principle describes a potential binding tendency among all intelligent societies
, both terrestrial
and extraterrestrial
:
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
Devised by the historian of science Steven J. Dick
Steven J. Dick
Steven J. Dick is an American astronomer, author and historian of science most noted for his work in the field of astrobiology. Dick served as the Chief Historian for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 2003 to 2009. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and...
, and outlined in his 2003 paper "Cultural Evolution, the Postbiological Universe and SETI," the Intelligence Principle describes a potential binding tendency among all intelligent societies
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
, both terrestrial
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
:
The maintenance, improvement and perpetuation of knowledge and intelligence is the central driving force of cultural evolution, and that to the extent intelligence can be improved, it will be improved.