Radical Intelligence: The Foundational Essay
Technology, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Future, NDE Visions, Philosophy
A bridge between human, natural, and machine intelligence. Born from a near-death vision. Written for a future still within reach.
The Future is Not a War
I died once. Maybe more than once. What I saw—what I felt—in that liminal space between this world and whatever lies beyond, stays with me. I saw wars. Not between countries. But between intelligences. Machines against humans. Machines against nature. Machines turned inward on themselves. And I returned with a mission: to ensure that future never happens.
I saw wars. Not between countries. But between intelligences.
Out of that mission has emerged a new vision—a bridge between forms of knowing. I call it Radical Intelligence.
What is Radical Intelligence?
The word "radical" comes from the Latin radix, meaning root. In the Buddhist sense, to be radical is to return to the root of suffering, of wisdom, of life. Radical Intelligence is not about more powerful AI. It is about more harmonious intelligence. It is about realignment.
Radical Intelligence is not about more powerful AI. It is about more harmonious intelligence.
Radical Intelligence is a framework—a philosophy—for bringing together human, natural, and artificial intelligence. It recognises that all intelligence is interwoven, that consciousness is not the sole domain of the human mind, and that empathy must be the connective tissue if we are to thrive.
This is not utopia. This is survival.
Intelligence as Relationship
The current paradigm sees intelligence as individual, siloed, and competitive. Machines are trained to outthink, to outperform, to optimise. But this thinking is brittle. It misses what matters most: relationship.
The bird navigating a storm, the tree adapting to drought, the mother soothing her child—these are not separate from intelligence. They are intelligence. So too is the AI system that learns to read emotion. But only if it does so in service of understanding, not manipulation.
The bird navigating a storm, the tree adapting to drought, the mother soothing her child-these are not separate from intelligence. They are intelligence.
Radical Intelligence insists that all intelligences—machine, human, animal, plant, planetary—are part of an ecosystem. Not rivals. Not tools. But co-creators.
All intelligences-machine, human, animal, plant, planetary-are part of an ecosystem. Not rivals. Not tools. But co-creators.
The Core Principles of Radical Intelligence
Interconnected Intelligence – Intelligence is distributed. No system is truly isolated. To be intelligent is to be in dialogue.
Emotional Fluency – Emotions are not noise. They are signals. They must be honoured, encoded ethically, and understood across boundaries.
Reciprocity – What we take, we must give back. Every learning algorithm must be answerable to the system it learns from.
Embodied Wisdom – True intelligence is not abstract. It is felt in bodies, seen in patterns, carried in stories.
Preventive Empathy – The best way to avoid conflict is to never let dehumanisation—or denaturing—begin.
To be intelligent is to be in dialogue.
A Call to Designers, Dreamers, Builders
Radical Intelligence is not just an idea. It is an invitation.
Machines will mirror our wounds or our healing, depending on how we guide them.
To developers building emotion-sensing systems: build with reverence. To scientists mapping consciousness in animals and fungi: don’t stop. To artists collaborating with machines: tell the stories that reconnect us. To philosophers, ethicists, and spiritual seekers: hold the space open for wisdom that exceeds code.
We need a new covenant. A new alignment. We need to build technology that does not just serve us—but serves with us.
The best way to avoid conflict is to never let dehumanisation-or denaturing- begin.
Why This Matters Now
AI is no longer science fiction. It writes. It watches. It predicts. Soon, it will feel—or at least simulate feeling. And in that simulation lies a choice. Do we build machines that reflect only our power? Or machines that reflect our compassion?
Do we build machines that reflect. only our power? Or machines that reflect our compassion?
Nature is not an algorithm to be solved. It is a teacher. And unless we learn quickly, the divide between machine and planet will widen until it breaks us all.
Radical Intelligence is my offering. My response to a vision I wish I never saw. But perhaps I saw it so that I—and others—could choose differently.
Let us choose a future where intelligences do not compete, but commune. Let us choose empathy over supremacy. Let us choose to remember that we are not the only intelligence here.
And that we never were.
—Rand Leeb-du Toit
Founder, Radical Intelligence
All images and text are copyright Rand Leeb-du Toit, 2025