To Hell without Natural intelligence

Revolution or Bubble?

Is it just me or is there growing a profound distrust of the AI revolution?  Many fields are experiencing major shedding of jobs, as AI takes over a lot of the thinking, organising and analysis that humans were doing.  The economic systems of whole nations are now betting almost everything on a prosperous AI future (for whom?),  but there are also murmurs of AI bubble, with cyclical investment within the industry, and the realisation that Ai may not deliver as promised. For now it’s clear: dependence on AI risks eroding challenge from knowledge work, creativity from design, emotional intelligence from relationships, leading to greater levels of social toxicity.  The same governments that propose carbon taxes appear to have no intention of regulating this industry that relies heavily on carbon-emitting data centres that guzzle water like there’s no tomorrow. Perhaps there is no tomorrow? 

Enter Natural Intelligence

Amid this digital fervour, and wanting neither to dwell in the fear nor the hype of AI, a quieter, more profound question emerged for me: What of our own natural intelligence? Not the regurgitation of facts or the clever algorithms that mimic thought, but the innate human capacity to discern, adapt, and connect deeply with the essence of life. This is natural intelligence—the spark that has guided philosophers, seekers, and everyday souls through the ages, revered not merely as a tool for survival but as light on a pathway to true freedom and enlightenment, one that artificial frameworks or models can never fully replicate. AI is touted as the superpower to compensate for all of humanity’s shortcomings and solve our biggest questions, yet most of us are holding onto massive untapped potential in using and applying our own information processing systems. My very first Marvel Cinematic Universe experience had me thinking:  Despite their spectacular superpowers, no Marvel hero ever changed the hearts of their enemies—a superpower, I believe, that is within reach of all of us.

Mindset and Discernment

There’s a growing field within neurobiology and psychology that champions "mindset" as key to positive outcomes.  We can adopt a growth mindset to turn ordinary human experience into extraordinary clarity, resilience, and insight.  In the ‘stress-is-enhancing mindset’ (yes, that's a thing, like getting after it at the gym makes muscles stronger) we can even leverage stress to focus more sharply on tasks, and develop cognitive flexibility and resilience. Pepper those perspectives with a relaxation mindset  and you can be almost constantly regulating the nervous system - by the minute or on the daily to avoid overwhelm or hitting a wall.  Just as many plants take a rest from growth monthly, seasonally and annually, so can we.

Without discernment (a quality of intelligence), how do we know when to turn resilience over to the power of surrender, or how long to ‘leverage’ stress before it becomes harmful? Should I draw my deadlines even closer so that I can concentrate more intensely on tasks, perform better under pressure, and access heightened cognitive flexibility? Or should I phone a friend and sip my tea more slowly. Natural intelligence helps us to choose wisely amid life's flux, to decide when to get up and go get ‘em. And is it worth spending the time cultivating all that? Don’t I risk missing out on mastering the art of prompt engineering, or whatever is now more important than that? 

Pre-Revolution Intelligentsia 

My interest in intelligence isn’t new.  I just scraped through an undergraduate degree in Peace & Conflict, and Russian Studies, in the early 90s, but one subject that got my full attention was ‘the Russian Intelligentsia’ - a study of their philosophies and roles as society's moral critics in the lead-up to the revolution.  I particularly loved Tolstoy’s philosophical works exploring ethics, non-violence, and spiritual inquiry.  Chekhov emphasized understatement, everyday virtues (kindness, truth), and resistance to ideological extremes. Sadly once the revolution came, ‘ideological extremism’ led to a deliberate effort to disenfranchise or disincentivise those whose ability to think, create and organise was more evident. They tended to be the ones with small enterprises and farms or were in academia, and their posts and lands were swiftly taken away.. 

The Tinman

In those early days, I could churn through piles of papers and books from the ‘Large Language Model’ that was the undergrad library, extracting data and reproducing to support a logical treatise or perspective just like AI can. I was - like AI - the tinman without a heart -  lacking in social awareness, intuition, patience, and compassion, that is, the capacity to recognise other’s suffering and respond accordingly, more commonly referred to as empathy. I had a brain, clearly, and at least some interest in growing some heart, especially as time went on and the experience of FAFO (in this case, acting without empathy, causing suffeiring to others and myself) took its toll.  Unlike AI, I had potential to one (a heart)', or more accurately, uncover the one I had. In fact for the tinman to realise he was lacking a heart and to long for one, suggests that he was indeed a sentient being all along. Something Ai will never be. Why (need you ask)?  Because AI is not alive. It lacks the living force of the soul.

The following quote from the Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.9 might have interested Tolstoy in his inquiry into the soul:

“The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air …, is situated within the heart, and spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, its spiritual influence is exhibited.”

So we cannot see the soul with our eyes, but we can perceive it—as the self—through perfect (purified) intelligence. This perfection comes when our perception is relieved of the mind's chaos: attachments and aversions, cultural biases, and lifetimes of sensory imprints (samskara). In essence, developing natural intelligence is about removing these contaminants to let the soul's light shine through.

What is Intelligence Exactly?

At its core, Intelligence is the ability to consider ideas, even those we might initially resist.

• According to Aristotle "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." 

• The Socratic spirit is to question everything, fostering a mind open to dialogue.

• Einstein suggests that "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."

True intelligence, then, isn’t rigid; it evolves with new evidence, shedding outdated beliefs like autumn leaves. 

Also, intelligence transcends the mere mechanics of thought. The Vedas the mind (manas) is seen as the turbulent seat of emotions, fears, and desires—a restless river that can sweep us away. Psychology describes these as aversion and attachments, that manifest as responses to triggers, and are measurable chemical reactions and neurological processes in the brain.  Intelligence, or buddhi is the faculty of judgment, comprehension, and spiritual insight, guiding us toward higher understanding.

AI lacks the subtle intuition that arises from lived experience, the empathy born of shared suffering, or the ethical depth that questions not just "how" but “why." What makes our own natural intelligence superior is that it’s inherently connected to ourselves, to consciousness and the qualities that come with that, from curiosity and inquiry to responsibility, love and compassion or empathy.

Cultivating Natural Intelligence

How, then, do we nurture this inner wisdom? There are simple levers we can pull—like sunshine, movement, nature immersion, and forgiveness to boost cellular (mitochondrial) and subtle energy. Yoga Nidra, or "yogic sleep” is a guided restorative practice that draws the brain into the hypnagogic state—the liminal space between wakefulness and slumber. Decades of research show it enhances cognitive function by down-regulating the stress response, lowering cortisol, and creating mental spaciousness. In practice, you learn to tune into subtle sensations, creating distance from the mind's chatter and the body's tensions. As layers of stress dissolve, breath deepens, energy flows, and you discover your power to shape perception. It's a gentle rebellion against the mind's tyranny, inviting discernment to flourish.  Cultivating natural intelligence isn't just personal growth; it's a safeguard against a mechanized future, fostering resilience, creativity, and connection.

Joyeux Noel

Natural intelligence is our birthright—a luminous thread weaving through philosophy and science, ultimately drawing us toward an understanding of the soul. What better time of year to remember our true nature as souls—atomic in size yet not material—and to glimpse others in the same light, recognising that we all arise from the same source and are all capable of compassion and kindness. When Jesus was on this planet, regional cultures were bitterly divided, treating neighbours as enemies based on tribal and trivial distinctions. Yet he distilled every prevailing ideology into a simple message: love God with all your heart and mind (something than cannot be feigned, forced, or born of ignorance), and love your neighbour—and even your enemy—as yourself. Loving our enemies may seem a formidable task, but we can try, in Aristotelian spirit, to use our intelligence to entertain the idea. From that small seed, a space may open in our hearts where neither attachment nor aversion holds sway, allowing us—quietly, at least—to wish everyone a joyous Christmas.