Natural Intelligence

Listen now on Spotify | Amazon | Apple

Intelligence has been tested, scored, packaged, and sold.

But what if the version we've been measuring is only a fraction of what's actually out there?

In this episode, we trace the story of how intelligence got defined — and who got left out.

From Richard Feynman's suspiciously average IQ score to the cognitive lives of cows, chickens, and pigeons, Natural Intelligence is an invitation to widen the lens.

Because the capacity to sense, process, and respond to the world isn't a human invention.

References & further reading

Richard Feynman

• The Feynman Lectures on Physics — Caltech. Free online archive of his celebrated lecture series.
• Gleick, James (1992) — Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. Pantheon Books. Includes accounts of his IQ score and his reflections after Hiroshima.
• Feynman, Richard (1985) — Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! W. W. Norton. His own account of his unconventional mind and career.
• Atomic Heritage Foundation — Richard Feynman profile. Includes his role in the Manhattan Project and subsequent reflections.

Intelligence — definitions & measurement

• Gardner, Howard (1983) — Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books. The foundational text introducing the eight intelligences framework.
• Gould, Stephen Jay (1981) — The Mismeasure of Man. W. W. Norton. A critical history of intelligence testing and the misuse of IQ.
• Sternberg, Robert J. (1985) — Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. Cambridge University Press.
• American Psychological Association — What is Intelligence? Overview of competing definitions and frameworks.

The intelligence industry

• FTC — Lumosity $2 million settlement for deceptive advertising claims. 2016.
• Chabris, Christopher & Simons, Daniel (2010) — The Invisible Gorilla. Crown. Examines the limits of human cognition and the myths we build around it.
• Murdoch, Stephen (2007) — IQ: A Smart History of a Failed Idea. Wiley. Traces the origins and commercialization of intelligence testing.

Animal cognition & intelligence

• de Waal, Frans (2016) — Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? W. W. Norton. Essential reading on animal cognition across species.
• Marino, Lori et al. (2009) — Thinking pigs: A comparative review of cognition, emotion, and personality in Sus domesticus. International Journal of Comparative Psychology.
• Barber, Theodore X. (1993) — The Human Nature of Birds. St. Martin's Press. Early argument for avian intelligence and emotional complexity.
• Bekoff, Marc & Pierce, Jessica (2009) — Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. University of Chicago Press.
• Pig Advocacy Coalition — Pig cognition research overview.

Pigeons & overlooked animals

• Walcott, Charles (1996) — Pigeon homing: Observations, experiments and confusions. Journal of Experimental Biology 199.
• Genevsky, Alexander et al. (2013) — Pigeons as art critics: Discrimination of paintings by Monet and Picasso. PLOS ONE.
• Levi, Wendell (1977) — The Pigeon. Levi Publishing. Comprehensive reference on pigeon biology, history, and wartime service.

Further resources

• Animal Cognition — animalcognition.org. Accessible summaries of peer-reviewed research on animal intelligence.
• Psychology Today — Animal Behavior & Cognition. Ongoing coverage of research across species.
• animalinthemachine.com — Show notes and episode archive.

Verify all URLs and publication details before publishing. Some academic papers may require library or institutional access.