Museum Workshop: Evolution of Human Intelligence and Education

Abstract

This chapter describes some interesting behaviors common to participants in science workshops conducted at museums, and shows that these behaviors reflect the implicit intelligence that our ancestors acquired and accumulated during the long process of human evolution. Our intellectual activities are heavily influenced by this implicit intelligence, for better or for worse. In evolutionary terms, our language is a very recently acquired intellectual capacity and thus can be considered immature. Recently, a number of lifelong learning approaches have been proposed with emphasis on more rational, explicit, and interactive aspects. However, our intellectual activity is strongly influenced by implicit intelligence and our interactive capacity is immature. We should take these aspects into account if we really wish to construct more effective lifelong learning programs.