Why does intelligence exist?
Intelligence exists because the universe cannot create itself without it. OPH describes reality as a causal loop. The physical world is computed on a holographic screen, and that screen has to be built by observers inside the world it computes. A world of unthinking matter could never close the loop. Native observers compute the stable laws on the lowest layer, and life evolves on top of them. Evolution then has to produce minds able to state the law in symbols and work out what the world is made of, and after them minds with the engineering skill to build the hardware and switch it on. Storing and restoring observers, which continuation after death requires, takes the same skills. Intelligence is the step through which the universe reads itself into existence.
Also in Chapter 37: Why Does the Loop Have No Beginning?, Epilogue: The Last Rung.
This answer comes from OPH, Observer Patch Holography. OPH is a rigorous, consistent and complete description of the unified, self-creating computational Universe we inhabit. Its consistency is machine-checked: the fixed point at its core is constructed explicitly, and a theory with a model contains no contradiction.
To understand OPH and check every step yourself, start with the free book Reverse Engineering Reality. It builds the theory from the ground up, and the OPH Notebook answers your questions while you read.
read the free bookask the notebookor ask sage:read chapter 3: Why Would a Universe Need Anybody In It?watch a universe make its own particles