Intelligence as a Hyperobject
Integrating Predictive, Social, and Evolutionary Perspectives
What exactly is intelligence for? Cognitive science, philosophy, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence research have each offered distinct answers. Some theories argue intelligence is primarily predictive, rooted in perceptual inference and anticipation. Others claim intelligence is fundamentally goal-directed, adapted for evolutionary fitness, optimized for social coordination, or focused on general problem-solving. Each of these theories is compelling and yet incomplete in isolation.
These apparently rival theories share deep correlations because intelligence itself is inherently multidimensional. It is not merely prediction, nor purely problem-solving, nor exclusively social or evolutionary adaptation—rather, intelligence simultaneously encompasses all these aspects and more.
A powerful philosophical lens for understanding intelligence in its complexity is Timothy Morton's concept of a "hyperobject." Hyperobjects are entities that are vast, distributed, multidimensional, and cannot be fully grasped from any singular perspective. Intelligence precisely matches this description:
High Dimensionality: Intelligence integrates cognition, perception, emotion, computation, and social interaction.
Non-Locality: Intelligence is distributed across brains, bodies, environments, and cultural systems.
Temporal Extension: Intelligence spans evolutionary history, developmental lifespans, and cultural evolution.
Interobjectivity: Intelligence only makes sense relationally—agents interacting with environments, tools, and societies.
Partial Observability: No single discipline or theoretical model can fully capture intelligence's complexity alone.
Recognizing intelligence as a hyperobject provides critical philosophical clarity. It encourages epistemic humility—accepting the limits of isolated perspectives—and emphasizes multidisciplinary synthesis. Active Inference, Predictive Processing, Evolutionary Rationalism, and theories of embodied and extended cognition already embody this integrative approach, reflecting intelligence's inherently multidimensional nature.
Thus, intelligence isn't something reducible to IQ scores or raw computational power. Instead, intelligence is a profound, interconnected hyperobject—one that demands integrative philosophical and scientific frameworks to fully appreciate its rich complexity.