Elliot's story, first documented by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio in his groundbreaking research on consciousness and decision-making, reveals a profound truth about intelligence that Silicon Valley is only beginning to grasp¹⁴. As we race to build ever-more-powerful artificial minds, we're discovering that raw computational power—the ability to process, analyze, and optimize—is only part of what makes intelligence useful. The other part, the irreducibly human part, is what Elliot lost: the ability to feel what matters.
This distinction becomes critical as we navigate 2024's AI landscape. Language models can now write code faster than senior developers, generate marketing copy that outperforms human writers in A/B tests, and even compose music that moves listeners to tears. They can pass the bar exam, ace medical licensing tests, and solve complex mathematical theorems. Yet they cannot tell you why any of it matters.
This isn't a temporary limitation that the next model update will fix. It's a fundamental difference between silicon intelligence and carbon consciousness—between pattern matching and meaning-making, between processing and purposing, between computing and caring.
Welcome to the Human 6%.