An intent of the second degree would be the intent of the programmer as enshrined and expressed in a software application, for instance. An intent of the first degree would be the intent of the same programmer which directly led to the composition of said software. House pets act. Many philosophers argued against such a supposition. Moreover, sometimes end results and by products are mistaken for goals.
Gravity is a matter of the structure of space-time.
But other natural processes are much less evident. Natural processes are considered to be witless reactions. No intent can be attributed to them because no intelligence can be ascribed to them. This is true but only at times. Intelligence is hard to come by or to define.