Processual Foundations of Modern Intelligence Studies

Building on early classified appraisals of the “static” and “undertheorized” development of Intelligence Studies (IS), and drawing on processists like Whitehead, Korzybski, Rescher, and Penn, the analysis argues that IS’s standard model of intelligence epistemology must replace its outdated reliance on substance-ontology with a more dynamic, relational approach. Despite rapid disciplinary growth, a persistent undertheorizing remains in IS’s failure to fully embrace early expert endorsements of processual thinking. Yet, by surveying four veins of scholarship across all “three waves” of IS theorizing—medical diagnostics, epistemology, postmodern critiques, and innovative “cross-disciplinary” research—a fragmented but emerging scholarly emphasis on process, change, and multi-ordinal complexity is identified, currently lacking a coherent metaphysical basis. Process philosophy provides this foundation by challenging standard notions of truth, objectivity, and knowledge, resulting in a profound epistemological shift. There is no identity, sameness, or staticity. All is relational and processual, including our perception, facts, and knowledge. Beyond enhancing intelligence assessment and prediction, the three-part analysis concludes that the process paradigm offers a unique aspirational vision for improving evaluative awareness across both individual analysts and the broader intelligence community.