Comment by econ

I read some stuff once where the author argued that almost everything takes in values, performs operation on them and gives output. Some things also store things. Then, if everything is doing logic operations there is no telling where intelligent "life" might be hiding. It also is really one giant system.

The toaster has hard coded or configurable weights. It makes a product from heat and time.

You could make toast by heating a brick on a campfire. It would be a clear sign of intelligence.

If we lift one weight out of your brain we wouldn't look at the number and say it is intelligence. It must exist in a chain or matrix multiplication to qualify.

The fun thing is that the timer and feedback mechanism do exist in a chain of events.

It's part of the system and it takes all steps to complete the task.

Our chain of thought that leads to making toast would be abandoned if it wasn't in working order.