Shock
The pandemic undoubtedly forces us to look at reality, and also at ourselves, with new eyes. The known paradigms, those of industrial society (consumerism, mass media, travel, dominion over natural resources) that have permeated the formation and mentality of people and organizations, seem suddenly outdated.
In a speech a year ago, Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America (one of the most respected think-tank and civic platform in the world), interpreted this state of affairs well, when, in the "New York Times", she written:
«The coronavirus with its economic and social repercussions is a time machine for the future. The changes that many of us predicted would occur over decades are actually happening in a matter of weeks."
Zeroing
And we noticed! No one can find themselves in the usual pattern anymore. We have all become newbies in the world.
E Endless novices is the beautiful title of a book by Franco Civelli and Daniele Manara that has just been released in bookstores in paper format (Guerini) and in digital format (Guerini with goWare). The "beautiful" thesis of the book is that, after the vaccine, an endless novitiate awaits us regardless of age, experience and where we live and work. We have to start from scratch, from the abc.
The beauty is also that it will be a global phenomenon that will sweep away laziness and complacency and bring about innovation in methods, mentality and continuous updating of knowledge and experience. It will occur at any level, but it will be a much more pronounced process in the world of organizations and businesses.
The two authors of Endless Novices, strengthened by wide and robust readings and an important field experience, try to imagine, in the 370 pages of the book, the challenges we are going to encounter in this "fireplace" towards a future that, perhaps, is already here.
In any case, the two authors remain essentially positive, convinced as they are that people, due to their ability to adapt to the environment and to develop new knowledge - as also shown by their extraordinary responsiveness to the threat of the pandemic - are destined to maintain , in the construction of what will come, the driving seat and the central role thanks also to the contribution of machines, friendly technology and artificial intelligence systems.
We are pleased to offer our readers an excerpt from Endless novices which deals with one of the topics of greatest debate in the current public debate, that of the intelligence of the future. It will still be one, or it will be many.
Recognize intelligence
Basically, understanding means putting one thing in relation to another, and it is a way in which intelligence, «intelligere», is recognized. Trying to describe what intelligence is, something that seems immediate and clear to most, in reality essentially means moving into insidious terrain with few certainties. And even the attempt to measure it has long been the occasion of strong controversies. What exactly measures the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and what the EQ (Emotional Quotient) instead[1]? What intelligence is there in emotions[2]?
In the ability to solve problems (the «problem solving») which talents, attitudes, skills, abilities, knowledge, experiences, competences are activated? Faced with the increase in decision-making performance, the custom of calling any gadget containing a microprocessor "intelligent" has become established without asking other more subtle questions[3].
Boncinelli and Sciarretta, in the face of artificial intelligence devices that make it possible to operate in sequence, in repetitive activities, processing data upon data much faster than man, believe that it makes little sense to put man in competition with machines which, used in appropriate operations, they are much faster, more precise and more reliable.
If a connection can be ventured, it is like when man, over the centuries, starting from Icarus onwards, tried to fly, in analogy with birds, accumulating one failure after another, succeeding, successfully, only when he designed and built a device heavier than air, which had little analogy with birds, i.e. the plane, making use of new physics concepts and, in particular, Bernoulli's contribution to fluid dynamics.
Social intelligence
In the world of work, many will have come across people with excellent academic results, who perhaps have brilliantly passed the battery of tests envisaged to become part of the restricted circle of Mensa[4], only to discover that the same people are unable to solve problems connected to daily work and show difficulties in understanding the context.
"social intelligence"[5] it seems that it is not favored as teaching in study courses despite the fact that it plays a priority role in the world of organizations, in socialization at work, in relational dynamics.
Furthermore, one cannot ignore a topic of enormous importance that we will barely mention here, namely the stupidity induced by organizational systems in the world of work and not only in this[6] and the phenomena of "learned inabilities" and "learned helplessness"[7]. As far as the phenomena connected to stupidity in organizations are concerned, we recall the "functional stupidity", as defined by Alvesson and Spicer, characterized by the lack of reflection on the characteristic models of organizational reality (organizational behaviors, procedures, processes, regulations, etc.), on the lack of the reasons why one acts/not acts in certain situations and, lastly, on the consequences of the actions taken[8].
Non-artificial intelligence
An interesting critical contribution on what is called "techno-chauvinism", based on the belief that technologies represent, in any case, "the solution" and, above all, on the fact that "artificial intelligences" are not always truly intelligent, is proposed to us by Meredith Broussard, professor at New York University[9], in the book Non-artificial intelligence.
The author argues that it is not at all true that social problems are inevitably destined to disappear in the face of a utopian digital society. Recent events related to Covid-19 and the related pandemic have highlighted how complex an "increasingly complex" society is, being convinced that it is not just a play on words. And also how difficult it is to manage "digital solitude" in a hyper-connected reality[10], strongly characterized by what has been defined «info-demic».
Fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence
As early as the 1963s, the American psychologist Raymond Cattell (XNUMX) highlighted a substantial difference between "fluid intelligence" and "crystallized intelligence".
Fluid intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous experience or instruction related to these relationships.
Crystallized intelligence, on the other hand, implies the knowledge of what derives from previous learning experiences or from specific training processes and paths.
It is the traditional and complex process between brain, mind, soul, conscience, between thought and knowledge that has always involved philosophers, psychologists, theologians, etc. And which today involves, among others, neuroscientists, called, in turn, to deal with the various artificial intelligence technologies[11]. And the complex relationship between mind and brain? Between mind and body? How much do biology, philosophy, psychology help us to understand them?
Multiple intelligences
We must then take into account that it is not possible to define a single form of intelligence, so much so that there are those like Howard Gardner[12] highlights the existence of «multiple intelligences». And taking up what was argued by Susan Greenfield, a fundamental question concerns what kind of "imprint" digital technologies leave on people's brains and in their behavior and what impact they determine on different generations (for example on the so-called "digital natives"), so much so that can be considered and recognized as a real app generation ("App generation")[13].
A "technological generation" which in many cases, and very frequently, is shorter than the previous genealogical, political, economic and cultural generations[14]. A generation, the Z Generation, which includes those who were born between the second half of the 2010s and XNUMX, raised in a wireless environment and world and which Janna Quitney Anderson (Elon University) has defined as AO, «Always On»[15].
It should also be taken into consideration digital divide, which cannot be limited only to the generational component, but which calls into question many other factors with different relevance such as access, economic and technological factors, gender or ethnic group differences.
The personalization of intelligence
One possible neuroscientific definition of mind, among the innumerable possible ones, concerns «the personalization of the human brain through its dynamic neuronal connection/connectivity in relation to the specific uniqueness of the experiences of the single individual»[16].
It is certain that artificial intelligence, in its current forms, already has strong repercussions on entire application areas and will certainly have repercussions on society and people in the near future that today, perhaps, can only be imagined[17]. There will be an explosion of intelligence as Max Tegmark, one of the founders of the Future of Life Institute (Fli) wonders[18], in presenting a series of possible scenarios? Certainly multiple questions arise, not easy to solve, which necessarily must not be confined to threats, dystopias, but help to configure new opportunities for people, organizations and society as a whole.
In one of his works, Edgar Morin, French philosopher and sociologist, highlights how «knowledge, having become problematic, makes the knowledge-producing mind problematic, which today makes the mind-producing brain enigmatic. Thus we arrive at the inseparable and circular relationship between reality, knowledge, mind and brain. We discover an unknown in each of them and, paradoxically, the unknown is found within what we know and within those who know»[19].
The digital being
But, as already mentioned, the very concept of the individual changes, or at least we understand that we are living, in society 4.0, a turning point in the conception of the individual. Clotilde Leguil, French psychoanalyst and philosopher[20], focuses attention on the Ego, on self-awareness, and on the risk that, to some extent, the individual runs of being questioned if not of disappearing as such in his uniqueness, in his being a subject of thought, of word, of desires, of anguish.
Subject in a world which is characterized, among others, by the neuronal man, by the machine individual, by modified and augmented humans and by being, the latter, clones of themselves, individuals who have become products of technology or scientific progress.
The risk of finding oneself in the presence of an "information being" who in globalization loses its uniqueness and specificity to become an information exchange node, forced to change the relationship between the "being" of each and one's own existence .
Again Leguil highlights how people of the XNUMXst century live, to a lesser extent than in the recent past, their history absorbed by the virtual world that connects one and the other, in real time. Individuals who know less and less who they are and, at the same time, do not realize that they are reduced to a sum of data which summarizes their existence and conditions their behaviour.
World, again according to the author, where some significant dangers for the "I" of the person appear, such as "total identity", "quantification", "mass narcissism"[21]. Dangers which, for various reasons, had already appeared, in a significant way, in the contributions, for example, of Aldous Huxley (1931)[22] and by George Orwell (1949)[23], authors certainly characterized by undeniable and relevant anticipatory skills.
Footnotes
[1] The IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is represented by a score obtained through a standardized test with the aim of measuring intelligence. And the debate on what intelligence is and/or on what intelligences are in relation to what (for example: performance) and for what (for example: problem solving) has animated the debate between psychologists and researchers of social Sciences. The EQ (Emotional Quotient) measures emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and effectively manage one's own and others' emotions. From 1990 to today it has been the subject of studies and research on the evaluation, regulation and use of emotions.
[2] MC Nussbaum, The intelligence of emotions, Il Mulino, Bologna 2004. The North American philosopher tackles this complex aspect which, from a neo-Stoic point of view, concerns emotions in relation to something, someone, an object. Being in relation is part of the identity, emotions, beliefs with respect to an object; beliefs that are related to the value, the relevance attributed to it. The author compared to the question «how should a human being live?» states the concept of eudaimonia, or what conception a person has of a full and prosperous human life, of a complete human life (p. 52).
[3] E. Boncinelli, G. Sciarretta, homo faber. History of the creator man from prehistory to biotechnology, Baldini & Castoldi, Milan 2015, state that «the overall performance of the decision-making faculties is commonly called intelligence"(P. 228).
[4] https://mensa.it/. In 1946 Mensa was born, an association made up of people with a decidedly high intellectual quotient. This following the massive development of the applications of psycho-aptitude tests in the world of school and work. In particular in the USA, but also in many other countries (Canada, Australia, UK, France, etc.). On October 1, 1946, the English lawyer Lancelot L. Ware and the Australian Roland Berril founded Mensa in Oxford. The main aim indicated by the founders of the association, which intended to present itself with a global reach, was to «Discover, encourage and promote human intelligence for the benefit of Humanity; without political or ideological-religious ends, or for profit and without distinction of race, sex and class of origin". After more than fifty years, Mensa is present in more than one hundred countries around the world and has over one hundred thousand regularly registered members. In 1983 Mensa was born also in Italy. Almost forty years after the foundation of Mensa, a meeting is held in Rome between a group of Italian members of Mensa Internazionale, who give life to Mensa Italia. Among these Menotti Cossu, Enrico Mariani, Donato Bramanti, Renato Zaccaria and Carlo Degli Esposti (deceased in 2000) founded the Italian Association with the deed of incorporation dated 29 June 1983 and became, together with Tilde Marinetti, Francesco Pinto and Guido Sabbatini the first board of directors. To join Mensa you must have reached or exceeded the 98th percentile in an intelligence-based test. To take the Final Test for admission to the Mensa, simply contact one of the test assistants listed on the Mensa Italia page of the nearest local group and make an appointment.
[5] Social intelligence means the ability to understand and relate to others in a given socio-organizational context by activating the appropriate behaviors.
[6] M. Alvesson, A. Spicer, The paradox of stupidity. The power and traps of stupidity in the world of work, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2017. The authors present the pros and cons of «functional stupidity». How can we forget, among the classic contributions, CM Cipolla, Cheerful but not too much. The basic laws of human stupidity, Il Mulino, Bologna 1988.
[7] MEP Seligman, Learn optimism. How to change your life by changing your thoughts, Giunti, Florence 2013.
[8] M. Alvesson, A. Spicer, The paradox of stupidity, cit., pp. 70 ff.
[9] M. Broussard, Non-artificial intelligence, Franco Angeli, Milan 2020.
[10] M. Spitzer, digital solitude. Misfits, isolated, capable only of a virtual life?, Corbaccio-Garzanti, Milan 2016. The author, a psychiatrist and neuroscience expert, is director of the Center for Neuroscience and Learning at the University of Ulm.
[11] RM Restak, The big questions. Mind, Daedalus, Bari 2013.
[12] H. Gardner, Education and development of the mind. Multiple intelligences and learning, Erickson, Trento 2005. Howard Gardner is Professor of Cognitivism and Pedagogy at Harvard. The different intelligences in their plurality that are identified by Gardner are respectively linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, kinesthetic-corporeal, interpersonal and intrapersonal, naturalistic and existential.
[13] H. Gardner, K. Davis, App generation. The head of the young and the new digital world, Feltrinelli, Milan 2014. The authors' choice is to go beyond the focus on technology in itself which usually characterizes definitions such as «digital generation», or even «web generation» to consider the psychology of those who use technology. In other words, what it means today to be a young person in the various cognitive, social, emotional and ethical dimensions.
[15] L. Floridi, The fourth revolution. How the infosphere is transforming the world, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2017, pp. 48 ff. Generation Z does not conceive of a life outside of what is defined as the infosphere, which increasingly absorbs every other reality, where the boundaries between online and offline are increasingly blurred in a reality dominated by information, a reality that Floridi defines "on life". A reality characterized by a "fourth revolution", after those that in the history of science and thought were marked by Copernicus, Darwin and Freud.
[17] M. Tegmark, Life 3.0. Being human in the age of artificial intelligence, Raffael-lo Cortina, Milan 2018.
[18] The Future of Life Institute (Fli) has the mission of encouraging the development of AI in a positive way, defining it as "beneficial intelligence" and safe, in order to avoid dangerous drifts.
[19] E. Morin, Knowledge, ignorance, mystery, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2018, p. 8.
[20] C.Leguil, «Je». A traverse of identities, Puf, Paris 2018.
[21] Dimensions of a political nature contribute to the total identity and, simplifying as much as possible, already starting from the Republic of Plato with the forms of tyranny, to continue in the course of time in different forms and with different connotations of precisely totalitarian and totalizing regimes, in mass societies where the ego represents a threat. Areas where thoughts, words, behaviors, the private are conditioned, defined by the "totalizing regime", by the psychology of crowds, by the totalizing language on the basis of a relative "sovereign good" which in Freud and Lacan is the psychology of Me and not of the ego (p. 43). As far as quantification is concerned, the danger lies in wanting to translate all subjective experiences into quantifiable terms. A push towards uniformity is accompanied by the quantification of phenomena. The individual is invited to continuously measure his own actions in terms of production and productivity, the emails he sends and receives but also through special devices the number of calories, steps and times in covering a given distance, etc. But the individual is also driven to measure himself, according to scales different from his own body and his own psychological dimensions. To quantify one's self. Mass narcissism also asserts itself through the increasingly extensive and intense diffusion of social media and not only where the person is led to represent and contemplate himself through others. According to Leguil, Big Data annuls the Cartesian cogito and therefore the "I am" of the person. Mass narcissism is what remains of the ego in the era of globalization. The ego which is not completely disconnected from narcissism but which tends to disconnect as the imaginary side that is present on the net prevails.
[22] A. Huxley, The new world. Back to the new world, Mondadori, Milan 2015.
[23] G. Orwell, 1984, Mondadori, Milan 1950.
From: Franco Civelli and Daniele Manara, ENDLESS NOVICES. Competence and capability 4.0, Guerini and associates (with goWare for the digital version), 2021, pp. 199–204.
The authors
Frank Civelli, management consultant, has been working for over thirty years in the fields of Change Management, organizational and managerial development, in public organizations and in national, international and non-profit profit companies. Coach and university lecturer, international speaker, he is the author of numerous publications on management issues, learning methods, transversal skills. He has published for Guerini e Associati Il communicatorepublic (with Vito Piccinni, 2002), and Lavorare con Competenze (with Daniele Manara, 2009).
Daniel Manara he worked for over thirty years in the personnel area and held the position of HR and Organization Director at prestigious Italian companies and important multinational companies. He obtained the certification for the construction of competence models following the collaboration with prof. Richard E. Boyatzis of Case Western University in Cleveland. Since 2008 he has been carrying out consultancy activities in the HR and Organization fields for companies and public bodies. For Guerini e Associati he published Working with skills (with ranco Civelli, 2009).
