All forms of life have intelligence, as ancient man knew. All kingdoms of Nature--Mineral, Plant, Animal, Human and Angelic---are expressions of Spirit and Intelligence, even the so-called inanimate rocks and minerals. Each Kingdom of Nature has its own particular Spiritual goal, unique to itself; for example, the plants as a group are purer expressions of Spiritual Beauty and Love than is humanity which has further to go to reach its own Spiritual goal. Humanity's practical manifestation of Spirit is still only partial, as compared to the much fuller manifestation expressed by the Plant Kingdom.
Humanity's spiritual expression in relation to minerals, plants and animals is made clearer by the following (from "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" (2004) by Thom Hartmann):
"In the 24 hours since this time yesterday, over 200,000 acres of rain-forest have been destroyed in our world. Fully 13 million tons of toxic chemicals have been released into our environment. Over 45,000 people have died of starvation, 38,000 of them children. And more than 130 plant or animal species have been driven to extinction by the actions of humans. (The last time there was such a rapid loss of species was when the dinosaurs vanished.) AND ALL THIS JUST SINCE YESTERDAY.
According to the United Nations' "Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems", half of the world's wetlands have vanished in the past century, HALF the planet's forests are gone, 80 percent of grasslands and 40 percent of the planet's land surface suffer from soil degeneration, and 70 percent of the planet's major marine fisheries are depleted. They add, "The world's freshwater systems are so degraded that their ability to support human, plant and animal life is greatly in peril.""