This paper argues that intelligence is an emergent adaptive capability arising from the interaction within the human−machine−environment system. It encompasses quantifiable computationality and context−dependent calculative rationality, which together constitute the dual nature of computationality and calculative rationality. By comparing the social interactive generative mechanism of human intelligence, the finiteness of mathematical tools, and the dynamic balance of intelligence between situation awareness (computating) and positional sensemaking (calculating), this paper reveals that intelligence is a characteristic transcending pure technology. Its essence lies in the integration of facts and values within complex systems: it not only relies on physical carriers, but also embodies the potentiality of "creation out of nothing" as advocated in Eastern philosophy, and ultimately points to the dialectical unity of scientific methodologies and complex system theories.

intelligence  /  philosophy  /  computing  /  artificial intelligence  /  thought