Intelligence only chooses between options a system already offers, never inventing new ones.
Evidence
Intelligence means choosing-between (inter-legere). It is not entirely free in so far as it is caught in a between, which depends on the system in operation. Intelligence has no access to outside, because it makes a choice between options in a system. Therefore, intelligence does not really exercise free choice: it can only select among the offerings the system affords. Intelligence follows the logic of a system. It is system-immanent. A given system defines a given intelligence. Accordingly, intelligence has no access to what is wholly Other. It inhabits a horizontal plane. In contrast, the idiot has contact with the vertical dimension inasmuch as he takes leave of the prevailing system – that is, abandons intelligence. — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 192
Categorization
- XREF: Directly recalls ch4 and ch7’s treatment of neoliberal freedom as merely choosing within a pre-given order — freedom of choice stripped of genuine openness. — connects to: Choice among options within a rigged system is not genuine agency; Human universality is perpetually made by choice, not given in advance. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 23; A society develops only when its members hold their own power of decision. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 510
- SEED: Article angle on AI-era intelligence: optimizing within a frame vs. breaking the frame — ‘smarter’ systems choosing better within tighter cages.
- recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
Broader Connections
- Choice among options within a rigged system is not genuine agency
#corroborates(0.92) - Human universality is perpetually made by choice, not given in advance.
#contradicts(0.78) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 23 - A society develops only when its members hold their own power of decision.
#responds-to(0.75) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 510