How to think a large thought

I found a blog post about a particularly intelligent species of jumping spider. Not intelligent in the sense that they think with mammalian ease. No, these spiders have physically tiny brains -- and they just sit there grinding away at complex mental processes for however many hours it takes.

That's certainly an interesting way of looking at intelligence. We humans tend to assume that to qualify as intelligent, a creature needs to have mental capacity similar to ours and be able to run thought processes the same way we do. But it's not that tiny-brained animals are incapable of complex thought: it's just a matter of how they go about it, and how how long the process takes.

I'm reminded of a scene from Star Trek: Voyager where Captain Janeway works with Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci is having a hard time grasping the idea of energy weapons, never mind the fact that he himself is a computer program in a mobile holographic emitter. So when da Vinci demands an explanation for all this, Janeway makes an analogy. A sparrow, she proposes, would be able to never understand French politics. A songbird's simple world and simple thought process mean that there are things beyond its comprehension. Knowing that, can da Vinci accept that there are things beyond his own comprehension? Da Vinci is humbled by this answer and he continues trusting in Janeway's incredible technology.

Really, the only reason the sparrow can't understand is that it has more mundane things on its mind. Food and mates and such. Maybe those determined jumping spiders could understand French politics or holographic programs, if they could live long enough to grind through the mental process. The spiders would need augmented memories to remember the things they figure out. Concepts like individual identity might be difficult for them. But the actual process of breaking down ideas into smaller pieces? It's not impossible. Or we can take the theory in a different direction: what understandings could a human achieve if zie could live a long life and spend it in vigorous thought? What puzzles could our mere ape brains work out?

I just like the idea that anything can think if it works hard enough.