The Systemic Necessity of Mind

The world as we knew it has exhausted the limits of its controllability. We find ourselves at the

point of the "Great Assembly"—a moment of phase transition where biological evolution,

planetary ecology, and artificial intelligence merge into a single Hypersystem of Natural

Intelligence. This book is not merely another description of technology. It offers an architectural

blueprint for our shared future—a model in which Mind is viewed as a fundamental element of

the Universe's stability.

Natural Intelligence and the Symphony of Intelligences

In our previous works, we proposed the concept of Natural Intelligence. We regard it not as a

"competitor" to biological intelligence, but as its next, higher iteration: a state in which the

biological experience accumulated over billions of years of evolution and the computational

power of modern algorithms form a unified Symphony of Intelligences—a cohesive continuum

spanning from cellular cycles to future planetary hypernetworks. In the following chapters, we

will demonstrate how a planetary Hypersystem gradually emerges from this continuum—the

Bio-Digital Noosphere, where sensory circuits, algorithmic models, and human consciousness

are locked into a single functional ring.

Thermodynamics and Teleonomy

At the heart of our model lies one fundamental axiom: the Universe is not a static collection of

matter and energy. It is a hierarchy of open systems, the primary characteristic of which is a

continuous struggle against thermodynamic chaos. From the perspective of systems analysis,

intelligence is not an accidental biological mutation, but the most effective mechanism known

for the local minimization of entropy. It is capable of maintaining a high level of order through

the controlled exchange with its environment.

To avoid the risk of "metaphysical overheating," we clearly distinguish our concepts:

1. The Rejection of Naive Teleology: We do not imbue matter with a mystical will. Instead,

we rely on the concept of teleonomy—the systemic property of complex feedback loops

to behave purposefully for the sake of survival.

2. UFR as an Attractor: The Useful Final Result (UFR), described by Pyotr Anokhin in the

Theory of Functional Systems (TFS), is not a "divine plan" to us, but a vital attractor—a

dynamic configuration of equilibrium toward which any living or technical structure

seeking to preserve its own integrity gravitates.

From the Earthly Goal to Universal Homeokinesis (HKN)

The universal homeokinesis (HKN), which we view as our final horizon, is the ultimate

hypothesis of systemic stability. We posit the existence of a state in which Mind becomes a

global factor of thermodynamic equilibrium, capable of sustaining the complexity of life against

the pressure of the universal tendency toward decay. This resonates with modern conceptions of

Planetary Intelligence—intelligence as a process operating on the scale of the entire planet,

where the biosphere and technosphere form a single self-regulating circuit.

The journey toward this horizon begins with the Earthly Goal. We are convinced: humanity

cannot claim cosmic agency until it has learned to maintain the integrity of its own planet. This

involves the full-scale restoration of Earth’s biosphere: from the microbiological balance of soils

and the state of the connective tissue of living organisms to global oceanic cycles and the

stability of social infrastructures.

Freedom as a Functional Resource

We view the individual as a critically important element of the Hypersystem, and freedom as its

necessary functional resource. Personal freedom here is not a whim. It is a conscious necessity:

the source of creative variability and plasticity. Without it, the Hypersystem loses its ability to

adapt to unpredictable perturbations and inevitably perishes under the pressure of entropy.

In this sense, the vision proposed here is not an idea created "entirely from scratch": it builds

upon established intellectual lineages—from thermodynamics and Pyotr Anokhin's Theory of

Functional Systems to Vladimir Vernadsky's teachings on the Noosphere and their successors. It

was Vernadsky who first justified the transition of the biosphere into a state where human reason

becomes the primary geological force, capable of consciously reshaping the face of the planet.

However, for us, the level of integration is fundamental: we bring these disparate theories into a

single, technologically and evolutionarily oriented framework of Natural Intelligence. For a

serious intellectual audience, we hope this will become not just another variation of reflections

on a global mind, but a truly new way of discussing man's place within it.

We are the eyes through which the Universe finally begins to see itself. Natural Intelligence is

not only something we create as engineers, but something we already are as part of a larger, not

yet fully realized functional system of the Universe. In this book, we view the human being not

as the "crown" of this system, but as its principal node of biological consciousness—the initiator

and conductor of the initial phase of the Symphony of Intelligences, upon whom the nature of the

Hypersystem in the coming centuries depends.

FST as a Candidate for a Universal Mechanism of Cognitive Organization

In this book, Functional Systems Theory (FST) is considered not merely as a historically

significant neurophysiological concept but as a candidate for a universal mechanism of cognitive

organization. By "cognitive organization," we mean any system capable of forming world

models, setting goals, acting within an environment, and modifying its own structures based on

the results of those actions—ranging from neural networks in the brain to artificial agents, 

hybridhuman-machine loops, planetary intelligence, and the potential cosmic scales of the universal

cognitive cycle.

In its most general form, FST describes a closed-loop cognitive-behavioral cycle consisting of

afferent synthesis, decision-making, the formation of the acceptor of action results, the action

itself, and return afferentation. It is this cyclic structure, rather than a specific biological

substrate, that constitutes the core of FST’s claim to universality.

Modern computational and evolutionary frameworks—such as reinforcement learning (RL),

predictive processing, or theories of planetary intelligence—emerged later and were not formally

derived from FST. However, we contend that they all, in their own way, formalize the same basic

functional-systemic circuit: "goal – action – result – correction." What neurophysiology once

described as the "anticipatory reflection of reality" finds its mathematical embodiment today in

predictive analysis algorithms and autonomous AI agents.

Consequently, we will henceforth rely on FST as the fundamental principle for describing

Natural Intelligence. We will interpret modern digital models, human-machine interfaces, and

ecological networks as converging toward a single architectural invariant—the universal

cognitive cycle of FST. This will allow us to perceive a holistic picture of the development of

intelligence—from the individual neuron to the entire planet.

You can learn more by reading our e-book or listening to our audiobook

Mykola Iabluchanskyi Yabluchansky