Onlooker

Intellect and blame
Heating up
Music hath charms

Intellect and blame

We are constantly, today, tempted to wonder why so many people in civilised society are swayed by emotion rather than reasoned arguments, with the result that decisions of politicians and governments are often made on the spur of the moment to anticipated crises violence, instead of by the cold assessment of evidence. Perhaps there is a failure of intellectual capacity or intelligence.

A now outdated concept of intelligence made use of three forms it might take: biological (dictated by genetic factors), social (shaped by environment and education), and psychometric (estimated by psychological tests). One of the difficulties has always been that numerical values derived from psychometric testing are confusing and unreliable, since they depend on interpretation and have no absolute value. A more recent view is that intelligence can be regarded as a measure of performance, again not an absolute quality. Although it may describe an individual's ability as a member of society, it fails to explain it.

Capacity, it is widely recognised, takes different forms in different cultures and individuals, one person showing marked ability for learning languages, another for making music or painting pictures, yet another for accomplishing mathematical calculations. All these are assets valuable to society, and should not be obliterated by a steamroller approach to education, as if it were a monolithic affair. Talents may go hand in hand with relatively low scores in formal intelligence tests. In the final analysis, there may be as many definitions of intelligence as there are tests to assess it. All we can say with safety is that heredity and environment both play their part in determining an individual's intellectual prowess.

What is disturbing is the reflection that there are many people in our societies who have undergone intensive training to perform certain circumscribed functions, and have been given authority and powers of decision which affect the lives of others, but who remain culpably devoid of general intelligence, unable to decide on alternative courses of action based on a cool logical assessment of evidence. As the philosopher Herbert Spencer put it: "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effect of folly is to fill the world with fools." And again: "Opinion is ultimately determined by feelings, and not by intellect."

It is possible that one of the obstacles to intelligent choice is arrogance, a vice to which those who wield power are particularly prone, and which extensively influences behaviour and attitude to others. It effectively closes the door to all rational discussion. An intelligent person has been defined as one in whom memory and capacity to assess relationships and solve problems are well pronounced. Previous experience is an important factor in determining reaction to a novel situation, and arrogant individuals do not learn from their experiences or develop a code that will enable them to deal logically with them. Without intelligence, there can be no real responsibility, either legally or morally.

It is worth considering the hypothesis that the trouble we experience from our political leaders and activists today may stem from a defective intelligence on their part. This at least might provide a generous verdict on their failures. After all, if we assume that intelligence tests offer us a rough if not accurate indication of the ability to think, there must be few persons with democratic authority who have undergone such tests and had the result publicised.

Heating up

A report in Science for January 16 places the responsibility for most of the global warming that is beginning to upset our lives squarely upon the industrial activities of humans.

Whether global warming exists has been disputed for decades, and sometimes still is, but the evidence points to its reality. A clear statement has been issued by the United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that "most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations".

We cannot blame the sun or natural climate fluctuations, but increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping gases which humans are pumping into the atmosphere regardless of the consequences. It is the opinion of hundreds of participating scientists that the world will warm more than twice as much in the coming century as during the preceding one. Some judge that the rise might even be as high as 10 times. The northern hemisphere warming in the 20th century may prove to have been "the largest of any century during the past 1,000 years" and cannot be attributed to natural causes.

The latest UN report gives a projected warming range of 1.4 to 5.8C. But no one can predict what human technology may produce in the 21st century. Both climate models produced by computers and socio-economic effects contain large uncertainties. Talks to determine the possibilities due to begin in Berlin in May are already overshadowed by the probable stance of the United States in respect of limiting the production of greenhouse gases. Most commentators take a pessimistic view, but it has been remarked that it will be extremely difficult for the Bush administration to avoid facing the situation squarely.

Music hath charms

Music exhibits an ever increasing potential as a therapeutic agent. Moreover, it can improve the activity of the mind in many respects. One special aspect of its value in restoring memory function was outlined at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society in London shortly before Christmas, and commented on in the Lancet for January 6.

According to the findings of Elizabeth Valentine and Nicholas Foster, the recall to memory of personal facts by patients suffering from mild to moderate dementia is significantly improved under the influence of music. A group of 23 dementia sufferers was questioned on details of past personal history at weekly intervals during exposure to quiet cafeteria music, familiar classical music, and novel music. Questions related to periods of the patient's life ranked as remote, medium-remote and recent past and present.

Answers were better forthcoming when music accompanied questioning than when it was performed in silence. Mean biographical recall rates were 61 per cent in silence compared with 67 per cent with music. No significant difference emerged between familiar and novel music themes. Recall of past episodes was 80 per cent for the remote past, 68 per cent for the medium-remote, and 48 per cent for the recent and current. Some questions, such as asking a subject to recall the name of the school attended by his or her children, could be answered during musical sessions but not during silent periods.

It is concluded that medical interviews with a person suffering dementia of mild to moderate degree should be accompanied by background music to assist access to information, and that music therapy might well be combined with other treatments available for managing dementia.