Podcasts about Friston

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Best podcasts about Friston

Latest podcast episodes about Friston

Many Minds
Life, free energy, and the pursuit of goals

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2025 66:49


You've probably come across the "free energy principle." It's become one of the most influential ideas in the broader cognitive sciences. Since the neuroscientist Karl Friston first introduced it in 2005, the theory has been fleshed out, extended, generalized, criticized, and cited thousands and thousands of times. But what is this idea, exactly? What does it say about the nature of brains and minds? What does it say about the phenomenon of life itself? And is anything that it says really that new? My guest today is Dr. Kate Nave. Kate is a philosopher at the University of Edinburgh and the author of the new book, A Drive to Survive: The Free Energy Principle and the Meaning of Life. In the book, Kate offers an extended critical analysis of the free energy principle and situates it in a broader landscape of ideas about the nature of life and mind. In this conversation, Kate and I talk about how the free energy principle has changed over time, from its beginnings as a theory of cortical responses in the brain to its eventual status as a theory of... well, a lot. We discuss why this theory has had such an enormous influence, and we talk about how many of the key ideas behind it actually have a long history. We consider some kindred spirits of the free energy framework— approaches like cybernetics, enactivism, predictive processing, and autopoiesis. We walk through a series of questions that all these approaches have long grappled with. Questions like: What does it mean to be alive? What is the relationship between being alive and being cognitive? What are the roles of prediction and representation in cognition? And we ask how—if it all—the free energy principle gives us new answers to these old questions. Along the way, Kate and I touch on: surprisal, visual phenomenology, vitalism, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, Maturana and Varela, pendulums and bacteria, computation and models, primordial purposiveness, pancakes, and whether we'll ever be able to create artificial life. As you might be able to tell from the description I just gave, this conversation goes pretty deep—and it does get a bit technical. It dives down into the history and philosophy around some of the most foundational questions we can ask about minds. If that sounds like your cup of tea, enjoy. Alright friends, on to my conversation with Dr. Kate Nave!   A transcript of this episode will be posted soon.   Notes and links 5:00 – The 2005 paper in which Karl Friston proposed the principle of free energy minimization. Friston later generalized the ideas here and here. 14:00 – For influential philosophical work on action in perception, see Alva Nöe's book, Action in Perception. 17:00 – One of the classic works in the “enactivist” tradition is Evan Thompson's book, Mind in Life. 18:00 – The actual quip, credited to Carl Sagan, is about “apple pie” not pancakes: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” 20:00 – The notion of “autopoiesis” (or “self-creation”) was introduced by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela in their book, Autopoiesis and Cognition. 24:00 – A classic paper of cybernetics from 1943, ‘Behavior, purpose, and teleology.' 37:00 – For more on the idea of “predictive processing,” see our earlier episode with Dr. Mark Miller. 43:00 – For a discussion of the idea of “representation” in the philosophy of cognitive science, see here. For a discussion of “anti-representationalism,” see here.   Recommendations ‘Organisms, Machines, and Thunderstorms: A History of Self-Organization,' (part 1) (part 2), Evelyn Fox Keller The Mechanization of the Mind, Jean-Pierre Dupuy ‘The Reflex Machine and the Cybernetic Brain,' Mazvita Chirimuuta   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.    For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

The Business Awards Show
Episode 145: The Female Business Network and Awards with Janine Friston

The Business Awards Show

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 28:50


The Female Business Network and Awards with Janine Friston explores a great way for women to build their networks and gain recognition for their business achievements. After twenty years working in customer service, Janine started her own business directory company. To help grow, she resorted to networking, but believed there were better approaches. As a result, she started The Female Business Network in 2018, and has grown online, across the Manchester region and even in Cornwall. The network is introvert-friendly, and absolutely not about sales! Janine explains her passion for conversation, connections, and developing relationships in a super-friendly environment. Furthermore, she has sage advice for those fearful of attending a networking event. Four years ago she took things further. She founded The Female Business Awards and The Female Business Festival. The awards celebrate the achievement, hard work and dedication female entrepreneurs all over the country put into their businesses. Discover how Janine manages the nomination process, the integrity of the judging process, and why she expects all finalists to attend the Gala Final. Meanwhile, the Festival provides inspiration, ideas, support, and expert workshops to help businesswomen build their enterprises. Janine is a champion of female entrepreneurs and her approach to networking and her awards demonstrate the very best in business. This is an episode to help anyone starting out wondering how to build contacts, gain recognition, and find new ideas and approaches that can help their business grow.     {1:26} Why Janine set up The Female Business Network. {3:00} Setting up The Female Business Awards. {4:36} Running a Festival alongside the awards. {6:56} Janine's career background. {9:36} Learning more about the FBN. {11:24} Networking for introverts. {16:18} Working with a partner. {17:29} The timing and format of FBN events. {20:10} Opening a group in Cornwall. {21:22} Awards details and closing dates. {22:33} The judging process. {24:22} The Gala Final at the Victoria & Albert Marriott in Manchester. {25:38} The Summer Summit 2025.     Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk Connect with Janine: https://femalebusinessnetwork.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalebusinessnetwork/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FemaleBusinessNetwork LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-friston-connector-and-small-business-mentor/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@femalebusinessnetwork TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalebusinessnetwork Female Business Festival: https://www.femalebusinessfestival.co.uk/

The Dissenter
#1066 Karl Friston: The Free Energy Principle, Culture, 4E Cognition, and Physics

The Dissenter

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2025 38:32


******Support the channel******Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenterPayPal: paypal.me/thedissenterPayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuyPayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9lPayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpzPayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9mPayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on******Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoBFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Karl Friston is Professor of Imaging Neuroscience and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow of Imaging Neuroscience at University College London. Dr. Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging. He invented statistical parametric mapping (SPM), voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). His main contribution to theoretical neurobiology is a free-energy principle for action and perception. He is the author of several books, including Active Inference: The Free Energy Principle in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. In this episode, we first talk about a Free Energy perspective of culture. We discuss 4E cognition, and AI. We talk about how the Free Energy principle relates to quantum mechanics and general relativity. We discuss whether Free Energy can be a theory of everything. Finally, we talk about a new understanding of death.--A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, NIKLAS CARLSSON, GEORGE CHORIATIS, VALENTIN STEINMANN, PER KRAULIS, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, MASOUD ALIMOHAMMADI, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, ERIK ENGMAN, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, STARRY, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, BENJAMIN GELBART, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, AND TED FARRIS!A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, AL NICK ORTIZ, NICK GOLDEN, AND CHRISTINE GLASS!AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, BOGDAN KANIVETS, ROSEY, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
How Free Energy Constructs Our Reality | Michael Levin and Karl Friston

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 80:29


Curt Jaimungal is joined by Michael Levin and Karl Friston. This conversation incorporates insights from physics and information theory, particularly regarding self-organization and the significance of entropy and free energy. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 3:43 The Free Energy Principle Explained 5:41 Creativity and Adaptive Utilization 11:56 In-Painting vs. Out-Painting 15:33 The Unreliable Medium of Biology 20:05 Aging: Noise or Psychological? 25:25 The Nature of Selfhood 45:10 Distinctions in Organic and Psychological Disease 48:54 Goal-Directed Systems and Aging 52:32 The Dynamics of Life and Death 55:49 Continuous Self in a Changing Form 1:01:35 The Constructive Nature of Science 1:08:02 Inferring Actions and Counterfactuals 1:11:40 Closing Thoughts and Future Conversations Links Mentioned: - Michael's website: https://thoughtforms.life/ - Karl's publications: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Michael's previous appearance on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aLhkm6QUgA - Karl's previous appearance on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk4NZorRjCo - Michael on Anthrobots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6GIzNM0aM - Michael's paper on stress sharing as cognitive glue for collective intelligences: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X2400932X?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=911840d57c51eace - Karl and Michael with Chris Fields on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6eJ44Jq_pw - Karl Friston on the ‘Free Energy Principle' on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7LBABwZKA - Michael's recent paper with Chris Fields: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064525000089?dgcid=coauthor - Top-down models in biology (paper): https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.1098/rsif.2016.0555 Geoffrey Hinton on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DUft-BdIE Support TOE on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs #science #podcast #reality #mind #consciousness #theoreticalphysics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke
Karl Friston on Consciousness & The Dawn of Mind | Living Mirrors #141

Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 61:13


Karl Friston is a theoretical neurobiologist and Professor of Neuroscience at University College London. He is also an honorary consultant at UCL's Queen Square Institute of Neurology and is a fellow of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society. He also happens to be the most cited neuroscientist in the world. Karl kindly read and gave a blurb for the book: “A remarkably current and forward-looking treatment. This book uses all my favourite words—in the right order—and some I have never encountered before. It offers a delightful narrative, grounded in state-of-the-art thinking about what it is to be an observer or, in the author's words, BEING IS BELIEVING.”  

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Emotions and the Free Energy Principle of Brain Function | Karl Friston

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2025 24:17


Professor Karl Friston is one of the most highly cited living neuroscientists in history. He is Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich, University of York and Radboud University. He is the world expert on brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, and pioneers the Free-Energy Principle for action and perception, with well-over 300,000 citations. Friston was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012 and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). Lecture Title: "Emotions and the Free Energy Principle of Brain Function." EPISODE LINKS: - Karl's Round 1: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc - Karl's Round 2: https://youtu.be/mqzyKs2Qvug - Karl's Lecture 1: https://youtu.be/Gp9Sqvx4H7w - Karl's Website: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Karl's Books: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e9rsk - Karl's Publications: https://tinyurl.com/y3jw534u - Karl's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston CONNECT:- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/mindbodysolution- YouTube: https://youtube.com/mindbodysolution- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu- Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu ============================= Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields. Special thanks to Karl for allowing me to share this lecture presented at the Brazilian Neuroscience Conference.

BJKS Podcast
111. Renzo Huber: Layer-fMRI, high-resolution fMRI, and the delicate balance between gourmet chef and janitor

BJKS Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 96:54 Transcription Available


Renzo Huber is a staff scientist at NIH. We talk about his work on layer-fMRI: what it  is, how Renzo got into it, how to do it, when it makes sense to do it, what the future holds, and much more.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: How Renzo got into high-resolution fMRI0:11:28: The difference between 3T and 7T fMRI0:22:46: Is a bigger fMRI scanner always better?0:33:35: Layer-fMRI0:56:28: For what types of research is layer-fMRI most useful?1:02:35: How to do layer-fMRI and make it reproducible1:19:21: The future of layer-fMRI1:27:02: A book or paper more people should read1:30:37: Something Renzo wishes he'd learnt sooner1:33:11: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtRenzo's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/huber-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/huber-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/huber-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and links mentionedEpisode with Peter Bandettini: https://geni.us/bjks-bandettiniEpisode with Emily Finn: https://geni.us/bjks-finnRenzo's blog about layer fMRI: https://layerfmri.com/YouTube channel on layer fMRI: https://www.youtube.com/@layerfmri/Bastos, ... & Friston (2012). Canonical microcircuits for predictive coding. Neuron.Bollmann & Barth (2021). New acquisition techniques and their prospects for the achievable resolution of fMRI. Progress in Neurobiology.Boulant, ... & Le Bihan (2024). In vivo imaging of the human brain with the Iseult 11.7-T MRI scanner. Nature Methods.Finn, ... & Bandettini (2019). Layer-dependent activity in human prefrontal cortex during working memory. Nature Neuroscience.Feynman (1985). "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!": adventures of a curious character.Haarsma, Kok & Browning (2022). The promise of layer-specific neuroimaging for testing predictive coding theories of psychosis. Schizophrenia Research.Huber, ... & Bandettini (2017). High-resolution CBV-fMRI allows mapping of laminar activity and connectivity of cortical input and output in human M1. Neuron.Huber, ... & Möller (2019). Non-BOLD contrast for laminar fMRI in humans: CBF, CBV, and CMRO2. Neuroimage.Huber, ... & Bandettini (2020). Sub-millimeter fMRI reveals multiple topographical digit representations that form action maps in human motor cortex. Neuroimage.Huber, ... & Kronbichler (2023). Evaluating the capabilities and challenges of layer-fMRI VASO at 3T. Aperture Neuro.Huber, ... & Horovitz (2023). Laminar VASO fMRI in focal hand dystonia patients. Dystonia.Persichetti, ... & Martin (2020). Layer-specific contributions to imagined and executed hand movements in human primary motor cortex. Current Biology.Polimeni, ... & Wald (2010). Laminar analysis of 7 T BOLD using an imposed spatial activation pattern in human V1. Neuroimage.

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Karl Friston Lecture: Certainties & Surprises in Our Daily Lives: The Brain as a Prediction Machine

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 24:17


Professor Karl Friston is one of the most highly cited living neuroscientists in history. He is Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich, University of York and Radboud University. He is the world expert on brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, and pioneers the Free-Energy Principle for action and perception, with well-over 300,000 citations. Friston was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012 and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). Lecture Title: "Certainties and surprises in our daily lives: the brain as a prediction machine." Special thanks to Karl for allowing me to share this lecture with the MBS audience. EPISODE LINKS: - Karl's Round 1: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc - Karl's Round 2: https://youtu.be/mqzyKs2Qvug - Karl's Website: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Karl's Books: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e9rsk - Karl's Publications: https://tinyurl.com/y3jw534u - Karl's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com/ - Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtevinnaidu/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu/ ============================= Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.

BJKS Podcast
104. James Shine: Integrating neuroscience with fMRI, collaboration, and the importance of dumb questions

BJKS Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 108:03 Transcription Available


James (Mac) Shine is a PI and fellow at the University of Sydney. We talk about his background in sports, using fMRI to integrate various parts of neuroscience, collaboration, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Mac's sporting background0:07:46: Overview of Mac's review in Nature (w/ Emily Finn and Russell Poldrack)0:14:03: The role of great editors in improving scientists and their work0:32:53: Connecting different levels of description0:40:07: Integration and specialisation0:48:49: You can scan any animal with fMRI - but they're usually anaesthetised0:54:13: The transfer from human fMRI to animal electrophysiology1:01:53: N=1 studies and layer-fMRI in clinical neuroscience1:16:17: Collaboration and building a multidisciplinary lab1:26:52: The magic formula in science: annoyance, excitement, and a constructive mindset1:34:51: Writing grants as a test to oneself, and the art of reframing1:41:52: A book or paper more people should read1:43:37: Something Mac wishes he'd learnt sooner1:45:43: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMac's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/shine-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/shine-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/shine-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksOHMB interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDj_94ovaUBoyden, ... & Deisseroth (2005). Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nature Neuroscience.Finn, Poldrack & Shine (2023). Functional neuroimaging as a catalyst for integrated neuroscience. Nature.Friston, ... (2017). Active inference: a process theory. Neural Computation.Munn, ... Larkum & Shine (2023). A thalamocortical substrate for integrated information via critical synchronous bursting. PNAS.Newbold, ... & Dosenbach (2020). Plasticity and spontaneous activity pulses in disused human brain circuits. Neuron.Pezzulo & Cisek (2016). Navigating the affordance landscape: feedback control as a process model of behavior and cognition. TiCS.Poldrack, ... (2015). Long-term neural and physiological phenotyping of a single human. Nature Communications.Rao & Ballard (1999). Predictive coding in the visual cortex: a functional interpretation of some extra-classical receptive-field effects. Nature Neuroscience.Shine, ... (2011). Visual misperceptions and hallucinations in Parkinson's disease: dysfunction of attentional control networks?. Movement Disorders.Shine, ... & Poldrack (2016). The dynamics of functional brain networks: integrated network states during cognitive task performance. Neuron.Shine, ... & Poldrack (2016). Temporal metastates are associated with differential patterns of time-resolved connectivity, network topology, and attention. PNAS.Shine & Poldrack (2018). Principles of dynamic network reconfiguration across diverse brain states. NeuroImage.

StarTalk Radio
The Simulation Within with Karl Friston

StarTalk Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 58:07


Are we all living in a simulation inside our brains? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O'Reilly learn about the root of perception, if AI really is intelligent, and The Free Energy Principle with theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/the-simulation-within-with-karl-friston/Thanks to our Patrons Timothy Ecker, Jason Griffith, Evan Lee, Marc, Christopher Young, ahoF3Hb9m, Steven Kraus, Dave Hartman, Diana Todd, Jeffrey Shulak MD, Susan Summers, Kurt A Goebel, Renee Harris, Damien, Adam Akre, Kyle Marston, Gabriel, Bradley Butikofer, Patrick Hill, Cory Alan, and Micheal Gomez for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

L'art du mentaliste
L'art du mentaliste #29 Les secrets du cerveau prédictif

L'art du mentaliste

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2024 42:55


A quoi vous pensez en ce moment ? Et si je vous disais que le futur influence le présent ? Dans cet épisode riche, Taha et Alexis vont décortir avec vous un modèle très utile et puissant de votre cerveau : le cerveau prédictif. Contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait imaginer, il s'avère que le cerveau ne fait pas qu'analyser les informations qu'il reçoit, mais bien qu'il est dans une projection constante du futur et ensuite compare ses projections à la réalité perçue. Vous allez apprendre les clés pour mieux comprendre ce fonctionnement étonnant de votre cerveau, et surtout comment utiliser cette information pour mieux façonner votre vie ! Un épisode qui s'annonce être très puissant ! Vous avez déjà vécu une préparation à une épreuve stressante. Examen, entretien d'embauche, rendez-vous important, first date. Parfois, face à cette anticipation, nos voix intérieurs sont tellement fortes que l'on arrive plus à se concentrer. Alors comment faire pour réussir à canalyser ce stress et concrètement sortir de ce moment d'anxiété qui nous paralyse ? Pour nous soutenir : ⁠Patreon L'art du mentaliste⁠ Dans cette deuxième partie sur le stress, Taha vous parle d'un outil qu'il a développer pour gérer soi-même toute situation d'anxiété ou de stress qui ne part pas avec un simple ancrage. Prenez un papier, installez-vous confortablement et préparez-vous à obtenir un outil qui vous redonnera le control sur votre stress. Références : Livres : - Stevens, Tom G. You Can Choose to be Happy:" rise Above" Anxiety, Anger and Depression. Wheeler Sutton Publishing Company, 1998. - Daniel, Kahneman. Thinking, fast and slow. 2017. - Cialdini, Robert B. Pre-suasion. First, 2017. - Truby, John. The anatomy of story: 22 steps to becoming a master storyteller. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Articles et publications : - https://www.college-de-france.fr/fr/agenda/lecture/the-statistical-brain-the-bayesian-revolution-in-cognitive-science/le-cerveau-vu-comme-un-systeme-predictif - Friston, Karl. "Learning and inference in the brain." Neural Networks 16.9 (2003): 1325-1352. - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013700621002608 L'art du mentaliste, un podcast animé par Taha Mansour et Alexis Dieux, musique par Antoine Piolé. Retrouvez Taha Mansour : - Son site : www.tahamansour.com - Instagram / Facebook : @TahaMentalisme Retrouvez Alexis Dieux : - Son site : https://www.alexisdieux.com/ - Instagram : @alexisdieuxhypnose

Jewellers Academy Podcast
226. 7 ways to increase your visibility as an introvert jeweller - with Janine Friston of The Female Business Network

Jewellers Academy Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 49:21


In this week's episode of the Jewellers Academy podcast, host Anna Campbell talks with Janine Friston of The Female Business Network. Janine shares 7 ways to increase visibility for introverted jewellers in business, covering how to show up on social media, how to get seen on Google,  tips for face to face networking and more.    The tips shared cover:   Social media essentials Reels without you in Google Business Profile Online interaction Email marketing Blogging Networking     https://femalebusinessnetwork.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/femalebusinessnetwork/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-friston-connector-and-small-business-mentor/     Learn more about Jewellers Academy Watch this episode on YouTube Join the Jewellers Academy Facebook Group Find Jewellers Academy on Instagram and Facebook

The Dissenter
#1000 Karl Friston: The Free Energy Principle and Active Inference: From Physics to Mind

The Dissenter

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 128:50


******Support the channel****** Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao   ******Follow me on****** Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/ The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoB Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT   This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/   Dr. Karl Friston is Professor of Imaging Neuroscience and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow of Imaging Neuroscience at University College London. Dr. Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging. He invented statistical parametric mapping (SPM), voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). His main contribution to theoretical neurobiology is a free-energy principle for action and perception.   In this episode, we explore the Free Energy Principle, and how to go from physical systems to brains and cognition. We start by discussing what the Free Energy Principle is, the history behind its development, and concepts like Markov blankets, internal and external states, blanket states, circular causality, and autonomous states. We talk about the differences between living and non-living systems, and the existential imperative to reduce predicting error. We also discuss concepts like self-organization and hierarchy in nervous systems. We discuss what we can learn about the brain through neuroimaging, and how specialized the brain is. Finally, we talk about how we can integrate the microscopic aspects of brain physiology with a more abstract understanding of the mind, like what we have in psychiatry and psychology. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, NIKLAS CARLSSON, GEORGE CHORIATIS, VALENTIN STEINMANN, PER KRAULIS, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, MASOUD ALIMOHAMMADI, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, ERIK ENGMAN, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, STARRY, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, BENJAMIN GELBART, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, AND TED FARRIS! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, AL NICK ORTIZ, NICK GOLDEN, AND CHRISTINE GLASS! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, BOGDAN KANIVETS, ROSEY, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Karl Friston: Is the Brain a Prediction Machine? Certainties and Surprises in our Daily Lives

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2024 37:59


WATCH: https://youtu.be/Gp9Sqvx4H7w Professor Karl Friston is one of the most highly cited living neuroscientists in history. He is Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich, University of York and Radboud University. He is the world expert on brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, and pioneers the Free-Energy Principle for action and perception, with well-over 300,000 citations. Friston was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012 and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). Lecture Title: "Certainties and surprises in our daily lives: the brain as a prediction machine." EPISODE LINKS: - Karl's Round 1: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc - Karl's Round 2: https://youtu.be/mqzyKs2Qvug - Karl's Website: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Karl's Books: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e9rsk - Karl's Publications: https://tinyurl.com/y3jw534u - Karl's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com/ - Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtevinnaidu/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu/ ============================= Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Karl Friston: The Most INTENSE Theory of the Reality Explained

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2024 71:00


Karl Friston is a leading neuroscientist and pioneer of the free energy principle, celebrated for his influential work in computational neuroscience and his profound impact on understanding brain function and cognition. Karl is a Professor of Neuroscience at University College London and a Fellow of the Royal Society, with numerous awards recognizing his contributions to theoretical neurobiology. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uk4NZorRjCo Become a YouTube Member Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad-free audio episodes!) Join TOEmail at https://www.curtjaimungal.org LINKS: - Karl's Previous TOE Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7LBABwZKA Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:05 - Lecture Overview 05:53 - Schrodinger's Question 08:48 - Markov Blankets (The Brain) 16:16 - Quick Crash Course in Physics! 29:30 - Different Temporal Scales 35:38 - Markov Blanket (Continued) 01:06:16 - Outro/Support TOE Support TOE: - Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad-free audio episodes!) - Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE - PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE - TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch Follow TOE: - NEW Get my 'Top 10 TOEs' PDF + Weekly Personal Updates: https://www.curtjaimungal.org - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoriesofeverythingpod - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theoriesofeverything_ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs - iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802 - Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e - Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join #science #biology #physics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almighty Ohm
Confessions of a cannabis eater

Almighty Ohm

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 50:26


And how medical marijuana can be used to show how we do not need a new world, but a new perspective on how we interact with our selves, each other, and our reality. Friston and expectations vs desires... Jung's: evil in our world is simply found in the truth we all act and interact unconsciously rather than consciously/interactively. Wilful ignorance meets apathy/lack of agency.

Doorknob Comments
Active Inference, the Free Energy Principle, and Therapy

Doorknob Comments

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2024 79:31


In this episode, Grant and Fara are joined by esteemed neurophysicist and authority on brain imaging, Dr. Karl Friston. His revolutionary impact on studies of the brain derives from his inventive use of probability theory to analyze neural imaging data. They discuss how we might think about psychotherapy from the point of view of Dr. Friston's work and briefly touch on artificial general intelligence, AGI, through Karl's work on VERSES AI.We hope you enjoy!In This Episode[0:00] Introduction[1:35] Episode Overview[02:30] Journey into Brain Imaging Research[6:30] Mathematics and Brain Processing[12:10] Active Inference and its Relevance to Psychotherapy[24:10] Therapeutic Alliance as Computational System[27:50] Revising Entrenched Beliefs Through Therapy[32:20] Trauma, Condition, and Altered Rationale[55:00] Mindfulness and Managing Prediction Errors[1:00:00] Consciousness and Selfhood[1:04:35] Verses AI and the Future of PsychiatryResources and LinksDoorknob Commentshttps://www.doorknobcomments.com/Dr. Karl Fristonhttps://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/2747-karl-fristonhttps://www.verses.ai/Dr. Fara Whitehttps://www.farawhitemd.com/Dr. Grant Brennerhttps://www.granthbrennermd.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-h-brenner-md-dfapa/

Converging Dialogues
#352 - Our Bayesian Priors: A Dialogue with Tom Chivers

Converging Dialogues

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2024 76:45


In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tom Chivers about Bayesian probability and the impact Bayesian priors have on ourselves. They define Bayesian priors, Thomas Bayes, subjective aspects of Bayes theorem, and the problematic elements of statistical figures such as Galton, Pearson, and Fisher. They talk about the replication crisis, p-hacking, where priors come from, AI, Friston's free energy principle, and Bayesian priors in our world today. Tom Chivers is a science writer. He does freelance science writing and also writes for Semafor.com's daily Flagship email. Before joining Semafor, he was a science editor at UnHerd, science writer for BuzzFeed UK, and features writer for the Telegraph. He is the author of several books including the most recent, Everything Is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World. Website: https://tomchivers.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Society Is At A Major Turning Point | Karl Friston Λ Anna Lembke

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2024 77:38


In today's episode, Karl Friston and Anna Lembke emphasize the urgency of reevaluating our personal and societal practices in the face of environmental, mental health, and addiction crises, through the lens of "active inference". Please consider signing up for TOEmail at https://www.curtjaimungal.org  Support TOE: - Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad-free audio episodes!) - Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE - PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE - TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch  Follow TOE: - *NEW* Get my 'Top 10 TOEs' PDF + Weekly Personal Updates: https://www.curtjaimungal.org - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoriesofeverythingpod - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theoriesofeverything_ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs - iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802 - Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e - Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything  

Machine Learning Street Talk
DOES AI HAVE AGENCY? With Professor. Karl Friston and Riddhi J. Pitliya

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2024 62:39


Watch behind the scenes, get early access and join the private Discord by supporting us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mlst (public discord) https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5 https://twitter.com/MLStreetTalk DOES AI HAVE AGENCY? With Professor. Karl Friston and Riddhi J. Pitliya Agency in the context of cognitive science, particularly when considering the free energy principle, extends beyond just human decision-making and autonomy. It encompasses a broader understanding of how all living systems, including non-human entities, interact with their environment to maintain their existence by minimising sensory surprise. According to the free energy principle, living organisms strive to minimize the difference between their predicted states and the actual sensory inputs they receive. This principle suggests that agency arises as a natural consequence of this process, particularly when organisms appear to plan ahead many steps in the future. Riddhi J. Pitliya is based in the computational psychopathology lab doing her Ph.D at the University of Oxford and works with Professor Karl Friston at VERSES. https://twitter.com/RiddhiJP References: THE FREE ENERGY PRINCIPLE—A PRECIS [Ramstead] https://www.dialecticalsystems.eu/contributions/the-free-energy-principle-a-precis/ Active Inference: The Free Energy Principle in Mind, Brain, and Behavior [Thomas Parr, Giovanni Pezzulo, Karl J. Friston] https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5299/Active-InferenceThe-Free-Energy-Principle-in-Mind The beauty of collective intelligence, explained by a developmental biologist | Michael Levin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U93x9AWeuOA Growing Neural Cellular Automata https://distill.pub/2020/growing-ca Carcinisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcinisation Prof. KENNETH STANLEY - Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhYGXYeMq_E On Defining Artificial Intelligence [Pei Wang] https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jagi-2019-0002 Why? The Purpose of the Universe [Goff] https://amzn.to/4aEqpfm Umwelt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umwelt An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms [Yong] https://amzn.to/3tzzTb7 What's it like to be a bat [Nagal] https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Nagel_Bat.pdf COUNTERFEIT PEOPLE. DANIEL DENNETT. (SPECIAL EDITION) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axJtywd9Tbo We live in the infosphere [FLORIDI] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLNGvvgq3eg Mark Zuckerberg: First Interview in the Metaverse | Lex Fridman Podcast #398 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYrJJNdrEg Black Mirror: Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too | Official Trailer | Netflix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qIlCo9yqpY

Dr. John Vervaeke
Exploring the Mind: John Vervaeke on Relevance Realization and Consciousness

Dr. John Vervaeke

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2023 108:47


In Episode 3 of the "Active Inference Insights" series, host Darius Parvizi-Wayne welcomes John Vervaeke for an insightful discussion bridging cognitive science and philosophy. The episode delves into topics like relevance realization, evolutionary processes in cognition, and understanding cultural variations in self-modeling. Verveke articulates the dynamic nature of cognition and its relationship with the environment, challenging traditional views on consciousness and the subjective-objective divide. Listeners will better understand how computational models and philosophical frameworks can synergistically enhance our comprehension of the mind and its processes. This episode is a thought-provoking journey that connects cognitive science theories with philosophical inquiries, offering listeners nuanced perspectives on the complexity of human cognition and its implications for meaning in life.   Glossary of Terms   4E Cognitive Science: A view of cognition as embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended. Relevance Realization: The ability to focus on salient information in a complex environment. Predictive Processing: A framework in cognitive science that describes how the brain makes predictions about incoming sensory information. Opponent Processing: A concept in biology where two subsystems work in opposition to regulate functions like arousal.   Resources and References:   Dr. John Vervaeke: Website | YouTube | Patreon | X | Facebook Darius Parvizi: X | Active Inference Institute | Active Inference Insights   The Vervaeke Foundation Awaken to Meaning John Vervaeke YouTube Awakening from the Meaning Crisis After Socrates The Crossroads of Predictive Processing and Relevance Realization | Leiden Symposium Books, Articles, Publications, and Videos Heidegger, Neoplatonism, and the History of Being: Relation as Ontological Ground - James Filler Predictive processing and relevance realization: exploring convergent solutions to the frame problem. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Andersen, B. P., Miller, M., & Vervaeke, J. (2022) The Self‐Evidencing Brain. Noûs Hohwy, Jakob (2016). Attenuating oneself. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences. Limanowski, Jakub & Friston, Karl (2020). 'Seeing the Dark': Grounding Phenomenal Transparency and Opacity in Precision Estimation for Active Inference. Frontiers in psychology. Limanowski, J., & Friston, K. (2018). Deeply Felt Affect: The Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference. Neural computation.  Forgetting Ourselves in Flow: An Active Inference Account of Flow States. Hesp, C., Smith, R., Parr, T., Allen, M., Friston, K. J., & Ramstead, M. J. D. (2021). Parvizi-Wayne, D., Sandved-Smith, L., Pitliya, R. J., Limanowski, J., Tufft, M. R. A., & Friston, K. (2023, December 7). Cognitive effort and active inference. Neuropsychologia. Parr, T., Holmes, E., Friston, K. J., & Pezzulo, G. (2023). "The Theory of Affordances" The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Gibson, James J. (1979). Karl Friston ~ Active Inference Insights 001 ~ Free Energy, Time, Consciousness    Quotes   "Relevance realization inverts the way common sense works." - John Verveke  "The deeper your temporal model, the more critical relevance realization becomes." - Darius Parvizi Wayne Chapters with Timestamps   Introduction and Overview [00:00:00] Evolution and Function in Cognition [00:06:17] Opponent Processing in Biology [00:09:42] Problem-Solving and Anticipation [00:14:22] Relevance Realization and Evolution [00:31:34] Consciousness and Subject-Object Distinction [00:53:00] Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Cognition [00:56:35] Ontological Self and Phenomenal Self Modeling [01:11:19] Self-Modeling and Cultural Perspectives [01:14:00] Agency and Selfhood in Cognitive Processes [01:18:16] Self-Modeling Under flow States [01:22:01] Arousal and Metamotivational Theory [01:35:54] Predictive Processing Symposium and Relevance Realization [01:46:26] Episode Conclusion and Future Plans [01:48:20] Timestamped Highlights   [00:00:00] - Darius Parvizi Wayne introduces the episode and guest John Verveke, highlighting John's expertise in psychology, cognitive science, and Buddhist philosophy​​. [00:06:17] - John Verveke discusses the evolution of cognitive functions and the role of evolution in shaping cognition​​. [00:11:40] - Explanation of the autonomic nervous system, detailing how its two subsystems with opposite biases work together to regulate bodily functions. [00:14:43] - The conversation delves into the nature of problem-solving, exploring how organisms predict and prepare for future states.  [00:22:23] - The concept of hyperbolic discounting in cognition is examined, analyzing its impact on decision-making and goal pursuit. [00:26:20] - Discussion on the role of affordances in predictive processing, exploring how environments offer action possibilities to organisms. [00:31:34] - Conversation on the analogy between relevance realization and evolutionary processes, highlighting the dynamic nature of cognitive adaptation​​. [00:38:00] - The existential imperative is clarified in the context of the free energy principle, exploring its implications in cognitive science​​. [00:53:00] - Consciousness and the subject-object distinction are addressed, challenging traditional cognitive models and exploring interrelational perspectives​​. [00:56:35] - Cultural and historical influences on cognitive processes are explored, examining how these factors shape our understanding of cognition​​. [00:57:13] - John Verveke discusses the hermeneutics of suspicion in cognitive science, questioning the distinction between appearance and reality​​.   [01:04:49] - The role of perception and its function in cognitive processes are discussed, emphasizing the interconnectedness of perception and cognition​​. [01:11:19] - The concepts of ontological and phenomenal self-modeling are delved into, discussing how these models influence cognitive processes​​. [01:14:00] - Self-modeling and its cultural variations are discussed, highlighting the diversity in conceptualizing the self across different cultures​​. [01:18:16] - Agency and selfhood in cognitive processes are examined, focusing on how these concepts enhance predictive agency in the world​​. [01:22:01] - Exploration of self-modeling under flow states and their impact on cognitive processes​​. [01:35:54] - Analysis of arousal in the context of meta motivational theory, discussing how arousal is framed differently based on goals and motivations​​. [01:38:04] - Discussion of the intersection of philosophical concepts and computational models in cognitive science, emphasizing the importance of integrating these approaches to enhance understanding without oversimplifying complex phenomena. [01:46:26] - Overview of a talk integrating predictive processing and relevance realization theory, offering insights into their combined impact on cognitive science​​.  

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Karl Friston: How Does Death Shape Life?

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2023 116:17


Professor Karl Friston is one of the most highly cited living neuroscientists in history. He is Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich, University of York and Radboud University. He is the world expert on brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, and pioneers the Free-Energy Principle for action and perception, with well-over 300,000 citations. Friston was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012 and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (5:19) - The Meaning of Life (9:18) - How Does Death Shape Life? Mortal Computation (23:22) - Real World Examples of Mortal Computers (Micro to Cosmic) (36:28) - Stephen Grossberg (Adaptive Resonance Theory) (52:01) - Synaptopathy, Bayesian Brains, & Mental Health (1:12:48) - Psychiatric Implications (1:25:01) - Andy Clark (5E Theory) (1:30:43) - Mark Solms (Felt Uncertainty Theory) (1:39:10) - Michael Levin & Chris Fields & Richard Watson (Diverse Intelligence Field) (1:44:08) - Gerald Edelman (1:47:03) - Anil Seth (Awesome Story) (1:50:14) - Book & Author Recommendations (1:54:55) - Conclusion EPISODE LINKS: - Karl's Round 1: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc - Karl's Website: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Karl's Books: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e9rsk - Karl's Publications: https://tinyurl.com/y3jw534u - Karl's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com/ - Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtevinnaidu/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu/ ============================= Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields. #KarlFriston #Life #Death #FreeEnergyPrinciple

Spatial Web AI Podcast
Dr. Karl Friston on the Fabric of Intelligence - Intelligent Agents, State Spaces, Active Learning

Spatial Web AI Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2023 87:15


Denise Holt reports from the 4th Annual International Workshop on Active Inference (IWAI), September 2023, where the highlight of the event was a 1.5 hour long exclusive presentation with the father of Active Inference & the Free Energy Principle, Dr. Karl J. Friston, Chief Scientist at VERSES AI. In this groundbreaking video, Dr. Friston unveils his latest research on Active Inference, shedding light on its potential as a systematic blueprint for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Watch as Friston and his VERSES team pioneer a new kind of AI that mimics biological intelligence, making any data 'smart'. Learn how intelligent agents leverage generative models and state spaces to perceive, adapt to, and reshape environments. Witness Friston's simulations of autonomous systems dynamically pooling knowledge through emergent communication protocols to achieve flexible, human-like coordination. Witness the structured learning breakthroughs that move beyond today's pattern recognition to decode raw data streams into organized representations, goals, and plans - the foundations for artificial general intelligence. Find out how VERSES' Spatial Web Protocol enables seamless belief sharing across specialized agents to form efficient, mutually predictable worlds. Gain perspective on inductive planning, information-theoretic formalisms, model comparison, epistemic foraging, dynamics of learning, and more groundbreaking Active Inference innovations. While Friston's presentation was meant only as a glimpse, these insights keep VERSES AI at the leading edge of creating Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS) that can understand, communicate, and adapt as humans do.  

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Joscha Bach Λ Karl Friston: Ai, Death, Self, God, Consciousness

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2023 157:14 Very Popular


Karl Friston, Joscha Bach, and Curt Jaimungal delve into death, neuroscientific models of Ai, God, and consciousness.SPONSORS:- HelloFresh: Go to https://HelloFresh.com/theoriesofever... and use code theoriesofeverythingfree for FREE breakfast for life!TIMESTAMPS:- 00:00:00 Introduction- 00:01:47 Karl and Joscha's new paper- 00:09:13 Sentience vs. consciousness vs. The Self- 00:21:00 Self-organization, thingness, and self-evidencing- 00:29:02 Overlapping realities and physics as art- 00:41:05 Mortal computation and substrate-agnostic Ai- 00:56:38 Beyond Von Neumann architectures- 01:00:23 Ai surpassing human researchers- 01:20:34 Exploring vs. Exploiting (the risk of curiosity in academia)- 01:27:02 Incompleteness and interdependence- 01:32:25 Defining consciousness- 01:53:36 Multiple overlapping consciousnesses- 02:03:03 Unified experience and schizophrenia "insights"- 02:10:16 Psychedelic experiences- 02:22:20 Institutional rot in science- 02:23:31 OpenAI CEO controversy- 02:32:22 Existential crises as one delves into consciousness- 02:35:06 Podcast wrap-upNOTE: The perspectives expressed by guests don't necessarily mirror my own. There's a versicolored arrangement of people on TOE, each harboring distinct viewpoints, as part of my endeavor to understand the perspectives that exist.THANK YOU: To Mike Duffy, of https://dailymystic.org for your insight, help, and recommendations on this channel.  - Patreon:  / curtjaimungal  (early access to ad-free audio episodes!) - Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE - PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE - Twitter:  / toewithcurt   - Discord Invite:  / discord   - iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast... - Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b9... - Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything:  / theoriesofeverything   - TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerchLINKS MENTIONED: - Mortal Computation, a Foundation for Biomimetic Intelligence (Karl Friston): https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09589 - A Path to Generative Artificial Selves (Joscha Bach and Liane Gabora): https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/y3tzs - Podcast w/ Joshua on TOE (solo): https://youtu.be/3MNBxfrmfmI - Podcast w/ Joscha Bach & Ben Goertzel on TOE: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA - Podcast w/ Joscha Bach & John Vervaeke on TOE: https://youtu.be/rK7ux_JhHM4 - Podcast w/ Joscha Bach & Michael Levin on TOE: https://youtu.be/kgMFnfB5E_A - Podcast w/ Joscha Bach & Donald Hoffman on TOE: https://youtu.be/bhSlYfVtgww - Podcast w/ Karl Friston solo on TOE: https://youtu.be/SWtFU1Lit3M - Podcast w/ Karl Friston & Michael Levin on TOE: https://youtu.be/J6eJ44Jq_pw - Podcast w/ Karl Friston & Anna Lemke on TOE: COMING - Podcast w/ Michael Levin on TOE: https://youtu.be/Z0TNfysTazc - Podcast w/ Chris Fields on TOE: https://youtu.be/J6eJ44Jq_pw - I Am a Strange Loop (Douglas Hofstadter): https://amzn.to/3GGqjpM 

Spatial Web AI Podcast
Friston's Law is Proven- Free Energy Principle Explains How Neurons Learn

Spatial Web AI Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2023 22:29


1st Published August 15, 2023 - Friston's Law is Proven- FEP Explains How Neurons Learn, written & narrated by Denise Holt. #ActiveInference #FreeEnergyPrinciple #KarlFriston   Dr. Karl J. Friston, the Chief Scientist at VERSES AI, has developed a new kind of AI called Active Inference AI based on the Free Energy Principle (FEP). Researchers in Japan have proven that Friston's theory explains how the brain learns through self-organization and predictive modeling. This breakthrough has significant implications for neuroscience and AI research, as it offers a more sustainable, interpretable, and programmable approach to artificial intelligence. The combination of Active Inference AI, the Free Energy Principle, and the Spatial Web Protocol lays the foundation for a unified system of distributed collective intelligence that mimics biological intelligence. By understanding how brains handle perception and learning through Bayesian inference, researchers hope to achieve AGI or ASI in machines. VERSES AI is leading this revolutionary work in the field of artificial intelligence. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:59 - AI Research Challenges 02:03 - Dr. Karl Friston's Work with VERSES AI 03:02 - The Free Energy Principle 04:20 - Brain's Perceptual Mechanism 05:34 - Neural Network Inference 06:49 - Experimental Validation in Neuronal Networks 08:07 - AI and the Free Energy Principle 09:03 - The Future of AI with VERSES AI 10:10 - Conclusion and Further Resources   Read the full article here: https://deniseholt.us/fristons-ai-law-is-proven-fep-explains-how-neurons-learn   Check out all the videos in this series on our Knowledge Bank Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv0h9xFwpMaLumek-HwbuP-jpAfmSWW55   Learn more on the SpatialWebAI blog - https://deniseholt.us *** All content for Spatial Web AI is independently created by Denise Holt. Empower me to continue producing the content you love, as we expand our shared knowledge together. Become part of this movement, and join my Patreon Family for early and behind the scenes access to the most cutting edge AI news and information. patreon.com/SpatialWebAI   #artificialintelligence #ActiveInference #FreeEnergyPrinciple #KarlFriston #VERSES #aigovernance

Machine Learning Street Talk
Prof. BERT DE VRIES - ON ACTIVE INFERENCE

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2023 147:39


Watch behind the scenes with Bert on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bert-de-vries-93230722 https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5 https://twitter.com/MLStreetTalk Note, there is some mild background music on chapter 1 (Least Action), 3 (Friston) and 5 (Variational Methods) - please skip ahead if annoying. It's a tiny fraction of the overall podcast. YT version: https://youtu.be/2wnJ6E6rQsU Bert de Vries is Professor in the Signal Processing Systems group at Eindhoven University. His research focuses on the development of intelligent autonomous agents that learn from in-situ interactions with their environment. His research draws inspiration from diverse fields including computational neuroscience, Bayesian machine learning, Active Inference and signal processing. Bert believes that development of signal processing systems will in the future be largely automated by autonomously operating agents that learn purposeful from situated environmental interactions. Bert received nis M.Sc. (1986) and Ph.D. (1991) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the University of Florida, respectively. From 1992 to 1999, he worked as a research scientist at Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton (NJ, USA). Since 1999, he has been employed in the hearing aids industry, both in engineering and managerial positions. De Vries was appointed part-time professor in the Signal Processing Systems Group at TU/e in 2012. Contact: https://twitter.com/bertdv0 https://www.tue.nl/en/research/researchers/bert-de-vries https://www.verses.ai/about-us Panel: Dr. Tim Scarfe / Dr. Keith Duggar TOC: [00:00:00] Principle of Least Action [00:05:10] Patreon Teaser [00:05:46] On Friston [00:07:34] Capm Peterson (VERSES) [00:08:20] Variational Methods [00:16:13] Dan Mapes (VERSES) [00:17:12] Engineering with Active Inference [00:20:23] Jason Fox (VERSES) [00:20:51] Riddhi Jain Pitliya [00:21:49] Hearing Aids as Adaptive Agents [00:33:38] Steven Swanson (VERSES) [00:35:46] Main Interview Kick Off, Engineering and Active Inference [00:43:35] Actor / Streaming / Message Passing [00:56:21] Do Agents Lose Flexibility with Maturity? [01:00:50] Language Compression [01:04:37] Marginalisation to Abstraction [01:12:45] Online Structural Learning [01:18:40] Efficiency in Active Inference [01:26:25] SEs become Neuroscientists [01:35:11] Building an Automated Engineer [01:38:58] Robustness and Design vs Grow [01:42:38] RXInfer [01:51:12] Resistance to Active Inference? [01:57:39] Diffusion of Responsibility in a System [02:10:33] Chauvinism in "Understanding" [02:20:08] On Becoming a Bayesian Refs: RXInfer https://biaslab.github.io/rxinfer-website/ Prof. Ariel Caticha https://www.albany.edu/physics/faculty/ariel-caticha Pattern recognition and machine learning (Bishop) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2006/01/Bishop-Pattern-Recognition-and-Machine-Learning-2006.pdf Data Analysis: A Bayesian Tutorial (Sivia) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Data-Analysis-Bayesian-Devinderjit-Sivia/dp/0198568320 Probability Theory: The Logic of Science (E. T. Jaynes) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Probability-Theory-Principles-Elementary-Applications/dp/0521592712/ #activeinference #artificialintelligence

The Nonlinear Library
AF - Agent Boundaries Aren't Markov Blankets. by Abram Demski

The Nonlinear Library

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2023 3:10


Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Agent Boundaries Aren't Markov Blankets., published by Abram Demski on November 20, 2023 on The AI Alignment Forum. Friston has famously invoked the idea of Markov Blankets for representing agent boundaries, in arguments related to the Free Energy Principle / Active Inference. The Emperor's New Markov Blankets by Jelle Bruineberg competently critiques the way Friston tries to use Markov blankets. But some other unrelated theories also try to apply Markov blankets to represent agent boundaries. There is a simple reason why such approaches are doomed. This argument is due to Sam Eisenstat. Consider the data-type of a Markov blanket. You start with a probabilistic graphical model (usually, a causal DAG), which represents the world. A "Markov blanket" is a set of nodes in this graph, which probabilistically insulates one part of the graph (which we might call the part "inside" the blanket) from another part ("outside" the blanket):[1] ("Probabilistically insulates" means that the inside and outside are conditionally independent, given the Markov blanket.) So the obvious problem with this picture of an agent boundary is that it only works if the agent takes a deterministic path through space-time. We can easily draw a Markov blanket around an "agent" who just says still, or who moves with a predictable direction and speed: But if an agent's direction and speed are ever sensitive to external stimuli (which is a property common to almost everything we might want to call an 'agent'!) we cannot draw a markov blanket such that (a) only the agent is inside, and (b) everything inside is the agent: It would be a mathematical error to say "you don't know where to draw the Markov blanket, because you don't know which way the Agent chooses to go" -- a Markov blanket represents a probabilistic fact about the model without any knowledge you possess about values of specific variables, so it doesn't matter if you actually do know which way the agent chooses to go.[2] The only way to get around this (while still using Markov blankets) would be to construct your probabilistic graphical model so that one specific node represents each observer-moment of the agent, no matter where the agent physically goes.[3] In other words, start with a high-level model of reality which already contains things like agents, rather than a low-level purely physical model of reality. But then you don't need Markov blankets to help you point out the agents. You've already got something which amounts to a node labeled "you". I don't think it is impossible to specify a mathematical model of agent boundaries which does what you want here, but Markov blankets ain't it. ^ Although it's arbitrary which part we call inside vs outside. ^ Drawing Markov blankets wouldn't even make sense in a model that's been updated with complete info about the world's state; if you know the values of the variables, then everything is trivially probabilistically independent of everything else anyway, since known information won't change your mind about known information. So any subset would be a Markov blanket. ^ Or you could have a more detailed model, such as one node per neuron; that would also work fine. But the problem remains the same; you can only draw such a model if you already understand your agent as a coherent object, in which case you don't need Markov blankets to help you draw a boundary around it. Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org.

The Nonlinear Library
LW - Agent Boundaries Aren't Markov Blankets. [no longer endorsed] by abramdemski

The Nonlinear Library

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2023 3:14


Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Agent Boundaries Aren't Markov Blankets. [no longer endorsed], published by abramdemski on November 20, 2023 on LessWrong. Edit: no longer endorsed; see John's comment. Friston has famously invoked the idea of Markov Blankets for representing agent boundaries, in arguments related to the Free Energy Principle / Active Inference. The Emperor's New Markov Blankets by Jelle Bruineberg competently critiques the way Friston tries to use Markov blankets. But some other unrelated theories also try to apply Markov blankets to represent agent boundaries. There is a simple reason why such approaches are doomed. This argument is due to Sam Eisenstat. Consider the data-type of a Markov blanket. You start with a probabilistic graphical model (usually, a causal DAG), which represents the world. A "Markov blanket" is a set of nodes in this graph, which probabilistically insulates one part of the graph (which we might call the part "inside" the blanket) from another part ("outside" the blanket):[1] ("Probabilistically insulates" means that the inside and outside are conditionally independent, given the Markov blanket.) So the obvious problem with this picture of an agent boundary is that it only works if the agent takes a deterministic path through space-time. We can easily draw a Markov blanket around an "agent" who just says still, or who moves with a predictable direction and speed: But if an agent's direction and speed are ever sensitive to external stimuli (which is a property common to almost everything we might want to call an 'agent'!) we cannot draw a markov blanket such that (a) only the agent is inside, and (b) everything inside is the agent: It would be a mathematical error to say "you don't know where to draw the Markov blanket, because you don't know which way the Agent chooses to go" -- a Markov blanket represents a probabilistic fact about the model without any knowledge you possess about values of specific variables, so it doesn't matter if you actually do know which way the agent chooses to go.[2] The only way to get around this (while still using Markov blankets) would be to construct your probabilistic graphical model so that one specific node represents each observer-moment of the agent, no matter where the agent physically goes.[3] In other words, start with a high-level model of reality which already contains things like agents, rather than a low-level purely physical model of reality. But then you don't need Markov blankets to help you point out the agents. You've already got something which amounts to a node labeled "you". I don't think it is impossible to specify a mathematical model of agent boundaries which does what you want here, but Markov blankets ain't it. ^ Although it's arbitrary which part we call inside vs outside. ^ Drawing Markov blankets wouldn't even make sense in a model that's been updated with complete info about the world's state; if you know the values of the variables, then everything is trivially probabilistically independent of everything else anyway, since known information won't change your mind about known information. So any subset would be a Markov blanket. ^ Or you could have a more detailed model, such as one node per neuron; that would also work fine. But the problem remains the same; you can only draw such a model if you already understand your agent as a coherent object, in which case you don't need Markov blankets to help you draw a boundary around it. Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org

The Unadulterated Intellect
#64 – Karl Friston: Stony Brook Provost's Lecture 2019 – I Am Therefore I Think

The Unadulterated Intellect

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2023 58:38


Karl John Friston (born 12 July 1959) is a British neuroscientist and theoretician at University College London. He is an authority on brain imaging and theoretical neuroscience, especially the use of physics-inspired statistical methods to model neuroimaging data and other random dynamical systems. Friston is a key architect of the free energy principle and active inference. In imaging neuroscience he is best known for statistical parametric mapping and dynamic causal modelling. In October 2022, he joined VERSES Inc, a California-based cognitive computing company focusing on artificial intelligence designed using the principles of active inference, as Chief Scientist. Friston is one of the most highly cited living scientists and in 2016 was ranked No. 1 by Semantic Scholar in the list of top 10 most influential neuroscientists. Original video ⁠here Full Wikipedia entry ⁠here⁠ Karl Friston's books ⁠here --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theunadulteratedintellect/support

Machine Learning Street Talk
THE HARD PROBLEM OF OBSERVERS - WOLFRAM & FRISTON [SPECIAL EDITION]

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2023 119:29


Please support us! https://www.patreon.com/mlst https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5 https://twitter.com/MLStreetTalk YT version (with intro not found here) https://youtu.be/6iaT-0Dvhnc This is the epic special edition show you have been waiting for! With two of the most brilliant scientists alive today. Atoms, things, agents, ... observers. What even defines an "observer" and what properties must all observers share? How do objects persist in our universe given that their material composition changes over time? What does it mean for a thing to be a thing? And do things supervene on our lower-level physical reality? What does it mean for a thing to have agency? What's the difference between a complex dynamical system with and without agency? Could a rock or an AI catflap have agency? Can the universe be factorised into distinct agents, or is agency diffused? Have you ever pondered about these deep questions about reality? Prof. Friston and Dr. Wolfram have spent their entire careers, some 40+ years each thinking long and hard about these very questions and have developed significant frameworks of reference on their respective journeys (the Wolfram Physics project and the Free Energy principle). Panel: MIT Ph.D Keith Duggar Production: Dr. Tim Scarfe Refs: TED Talk with Stephen: https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_wolfram_how_to_think_computationally_about_ai_the_universe_and_everything https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/10/how-to-think-computationally-about-ai-the-universe-and-everything/ TOC 00:00:00 - Show kickoff 00:02:38 - Wolfram gets to grips with FEP 00:27:08 - How much control does an agent/observer have 00:34:52 - Observer persistence, what universe seems like to us 00:40:31 - Black holes 00:45:07 - Inside vs outside 00:52:20 - Moving away from the predictable path 00:55:26 - What can observers do 01:06:50 - Self modelling gives agency 01:11:26 - How do you know a thing has agency? 01:22:48 - Deep link between dynamics, ruliad and AI 01:25:52 - Does agency entail free will? Defining Agency 01:32:57 - Where do I probe for agency? 01:39:13 - Why is the universe the way we see it? 01:42:50 - Alien intelligence 01:43:40 - The hard problem of Observers 01:46:20 - Summary thoughts from Wolfram 01:49:35 - Factorisability of FEP 01:57:05 - Patreon interview teaser

Machine Learning Street Talk
Autopoitic Enactivism and the Free Energy Principle - Prof. Friston, Prof Buckley, Dr. Ramstead

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2023 94:46


We explore connections between FEP and enactivism, including tensions raised in a paper critiquing FEP from an enactivist perspective. Dr. Maxwell Ramstead provides background on enactivism emerging from autopoiesis, with a focus on embodied cognition and rejecting information processing/computational views of mind. Chris shares his journey from robotics into FEP, starting as a skeptic but becoming convinced it's the right framework. He notes there are both "high road" and "low road" versions, ranging from embodied to more radically anti-representational stances. He doesn't see a definitive fork between dynamical systems and information theory as the source of conflict. Rather, the notion of operational closure in enactivism seems to be the main sticking point. The group explores definitional issues around structure/organization, boundaries, and operational closure. Maxwell argues the generative model in FEP captures organizational dependencies akin to operational closure. The Markov blanket formalism models structural interfaces. We discuss the concept of goals in cognitive systems - Chris advocates an intentional stance perspective - using notions of goals/intentions if they help explain system dynamics. Goals emerge from beliefs about dynamical trajectories. Prof Friston provides an elegant explanation of how goal-directed behavior naturally falls out of the FEP mathematics in a particular "goldilocks" regime of system scale/dynamics. The conversation explores the idea that many systems simply act "as if" they have goals or models, without necessarily possessing explicit representations. This helps resolve tensions between enactivist and computational perspectives. Throughout the dialogue, Maxwell presses philosophical points about the FEP abolishing what he perceives as false dichotomies in cognitive science such as internalism/externalism. He is critical of enactivists' commitment to bright line divides between subject areas. Prof. Karl Friston - Inventor of the free energy principle https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q_4u0aoAAAAJ Prof. Chris Buckley - Professor of Neural Computation at Sussex University https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=nWuZ0XcAAAAJ&hl=en Dr. Maxwell Ramstead - Director of Research at VERSES https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=ILpGOMkAAAAJ&hl=fr We address critique in this paper: Laying down a forking path: Tensions between enaction and the free energy principle (Ezequiel A. Di Paolo, Evan Thompson, Randall D. Beere) https://philosophymindscience.org/index.php/phimisci/article/download/9187/8975 Other refs: Multiscale integration: beyond internalism and externalism (Maxwell J D Ramstead) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33627890/ MLST panel: Dr. Tim Scarfe and Dr. Keith Duggar TOC (auto generated): 0:00 - Introduction 0:41 - Defining enactivism and its variants 6:58 - The source of the conflict between dynamical systems and information theory 8:56 - Operational closure in enactivism 10:03 - Goals and intentions 12:35 - The link between dynamical systems and information theory 15:02 - Path integrals and non-equilibrium dynamics 18:38 - Operational closure defined 21:52 - Structure vs. organization in enactivism 24:24 - Markov blankets as interfaces 28:48 - Operational closure in FEP 30:28 - Structure and organization again 31:08 - Dynamics vs. information theory 33:55 - Goals and intentions emerge in the FEP mathematics 36:58 - The Good Regulator Theorem 49:30 - enactivism and its relation to ecological psychology 52:00 - Goals, intentions and beliefs 55:21 - Boundaries and meaning 58:55 - Enactivism's rejection of information theory 1:02:08 - Beliefs vs goals 1:05:06 - Ecological psychology and FEP 1:08:41 - The Good Regulator Theorem 1:18:38 - How goal-directed behavior emerges 1:23:13 - Ontological vs metaphysical boundaries 1:25:20 - Boundaries as maps 1:31:08 - Connections to the maximum entropy principle 1:33:45 - Relations to quantum and relational physics

The Innovation Show
Mark Solms - The Hidden Spring Part 3: The Cortical Fallacy

The Innovation Show

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2023 62:32


In The Hidden Spring, our guest Mark Solms does not dive too deeply into Karl Friston's mathematics. As you will discover, he summarises its implications, describing Friston's free energy as a quantifiable measure of how a system models the world and how it behaves. This notion leads to a very different idea of consciousness from Descartes's reason-centric version that set up the puzzling dualism of “mind” and “matter”, a la Damasio's Descartes Error. Mark explores the “cortical fallacy,” which refers to his view that neuroscientists who have argued that the “seat of consciousness” is in the cortex are wrong. Recent neuroscience has shed light on where this is. As Mark points out, damage to just two cubic millimetres of the upper brainstem will “obliterate all consciousness.”   So where does it "Spring" from?   00:00:00 Intro 00:00:12 Teeing Up “The Cortical Fallacy” with hydranencephaly, a rare condition in which the brain's cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. 00:02:37 “The Cortical Fallacy”  00:18:14 The Report-ability Problem of Consciousness 00:31:00 Chemical and Pharmacological Probes 00:37:00 1949 discovery of the Reticular Activating System  00:55:25 The Reticular Activating System: Salience, Filtering, Gratitude, Law of Attraction 00:58:00 The Mr. W joke and The Global Workspace Theory

Machine Learning Street Talk
Dr. MAXWELL RAMSTEAD - The Physics of Survival

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2023 125:50


Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mlst Discord: https://discord.gg/ESrGqhf5CB Join us for a fascinating discussion of the free energy principle with Dr. Maxwell Ramsted, a leading thinker exploring the intersection of math, physics, and philosophy and Director of Research at VERSES. The FEP was proposed by renowned neuroscientist Karl Friston, this principle offers a unifying theory explaining how systems maintain order and their identity. The free energy principle inverts traditional survival logic. Rather than asking what behaviors promote survival, it queries - given things exist, what must they do? The answer: minimizing free energy, or "surprise." Systems persist by constantly ensuring their internal states match anticipated states based on a model of the world. Failure to minimize surprise leads to chaos as systems dissolve into disorder. Thus, the free energy principle elucidates why lifeforms relentlessly model and predict their surroundings. It is an existential imperative counterbalancing entropy. Essentially, this principle describes the mind's pursuit of harmony between expectations and reality. Its relevance spans from cells to societies, underlying order wherever longevity is found. Our discussion explores the technical details and philosophical implications of this paradigm-shifting theory. How does it further our understanding of cognition and intelligence? What insights does it offer about the fundamental patterns and properties of existence? Can it precipitate breakthroughs in disciplines like neuroscience and artificial intelligence? Dr. Ramstead completed his Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2019, with frequent research visits to UCL in London, under the supervision of the world's most cited neuroscientist, Professor Karl Friston (UCL). YT version: https://youtu.be/8qb28P7ksyE https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=ILpGOMkAAAAJ&hl=frhttps://spatialwebfoundation.org/team/maxwell-ramstead/https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-ramstead-43a1991b7/https://twitter.com/mjdramstead VERSES AI: https://www.verses.ai/ Intro: Tim Scarfe (Ph.D) Interviewer: Keith Duggar (Ph.D MIT) TOC: 0:00:00 - Tim Intro 0:08:10 - Intro and philosophy 0:14:26 - Intro to Maxwell 0:18:00 - FEP 0:29:08 - Markov Blankets 0:51:15 - Verses AI / Applications of FEP 1:05:55 - Potential issues with deploying FEP 1:10:50 - Shared knowledge graphs 1:14:29 - XRisk / Ethics 1:24:57 - Strength of Verses 1:28:30 - Misconceptions about FEP, Physics vs philosophy/criticism 1:44:41 - Emergence / consciousness References: Principia Mathematica https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30567249049 Andy Clark's paper "Whatever Next? Predictive Brains, Situated Agents, and the Future of Cognitive Science" (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2013) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23663408/ "Math Does Not Represent" by Erik Curiel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA_T20HAzyY A free energy principle for generic quantum systems (Chris Fields et al) https://arxiv.org/pdf/2112.15242.pdf Designing explainable artificial intelligence with active inference https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.04025 Am I Self-Conscious? (Friston) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00579/full The Meta-Problem of Consciousness https://philarchive.org/archive/CHATMO-32v1 The Map-Territory Fallacy Fallacy https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.06924 A Technical Critique of Some Parts of the Free Energy Principle - Martin Biehl et al https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.06408 WEAK MARKOV BLANKETS IN HIGH-DIMENSIONAL, SPARSELY-COUPLED RANDOM DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS - DALTON A R SAKTHIVADIVEL https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.07620.pdf

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Consciousness Delusions & How Religions Evolved To Exploit Us: God's Memes | Susan Blackmore

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2023 57:35


WATCH: https://youtu.be/u1VlYfgCHTA Susan Blackmore is a freelance writer, lecturer, broadcaster, and Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth, UK. She has a degree in psychology and physiology from Oxford University (1973) an MSc and a PhD in parapsychology from the University of Surrey (1980). Her research interests include memes, evolutionary theory, consciousness, and meditation. She is author of about 15 books, 60 academic articles, 80 book contributions and many book reviews. The Meme Machine (1999) has been translated into nearly twenty other languages. She is a TED lecturer and often appears on radio, television and podcasts. EPISODE LINKS: - Sue's Website: https://www.susanblackmore.uk/ - Sue's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Susan-Blackmore/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ASusan+Blackmore - Sue's Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=MdxHaLwAAAAJ&hl=en - Sue's Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Blackmore CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) – Introduction (0:21) – Sue's Zen retreat (2:56) – Sue's interpretation of the Mind-Body Problem (7:06) – Frankish's Book: Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness ft. Blackmore, Graziano, Dennett etc. (10:57) – Sue's version of Illusionism (16:52) – IIT, Panpsychism & Hierarchical Bayesian Brains (22:22) – “Am I conscious now?” (28:55) – Delusionism vs Illusionism (ft. Friston's Free Energy Principle) (34:04) – Aspects of Philosophy of Mind most intriguing to Sue currently (37:30) – “God's Memes & How Religion's Evolved to Exploit Us (upcoming book) (39:54) – Atheism (42:46) – Sue's debate with Jordan Peterson (46:31) – Sue's research for the new book (Hitchens, Dawkins etc.) (49:59) – Sue's ideal greatest influences (Charles Darwin & William James) (56:14) – Conclusion Website · YouTube

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu
Free Energy Principle, Markov Blankets, Bayesian Brains & Helmholtz Machines (Karl Friston)

Mind-Body Solution with Dr Tevin Naidu

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2023 122:02


WATCH: https://youtu.be/Kb5X8xOWgpc Professor Karl Friston is one of the greatest neuroscientists in history. He is Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich, University of York and Radboud University. He is the world expert on brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, and pioneers the Free-Energy Principle for action and perception, with well-over 300,000 citations. Friston received the first Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping (1996) and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. In 2003 he was awarded the Minerva Golden Brain Award and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. He became of Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012, received the Weldon Memorial prize and Medal in 2013 for contributions to mathematical biology and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). He was the 2016 recipient of the Charles Branch Award for unparalleled breakthroughs in Brain Research and the Glass Brain Award - a lifetime achievement award in the field of human brain mapping. EPISODE LINKS: - Karl's Website: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ - Karl's Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Karl-J-Friston/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AKarl+J.+Friston - Karl's Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=q_4u0aoAAAAJ&hl=en - Karl's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_J._Friston CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:47) - I am, Therefore I Think (212) - Free Energy Principle (FEP), Bayesian Brain & Active Inference (6:19) - FEP Formalism & Being a Polymath (12:10) - Computational Psychiatry & Psychopathology (18:01) - Psychosis & Illusions (Priors vs Posteriors) (24:33) - Does FEP defend Illusionism? (31:49) - What is Consciousness? (44:55) - Working with Chris Frith & Mark Solms (51:38) - Markov Blankets (57:22) - Using Markov Blankets to understand Neural Networks (1:07:08) - Work of Chris Fields, Michael Levin and others (1:10:58) - Bridging the Gap (Multidisciplinary Approaches) (1:14:26) - Potential hindrances to identifying Markov blankets (1:2027) - Future of FEP (3 Directions of Travel) (1:30:22) - Markov Blankets, The Self & Free Will (1:35:41) - Meaning of Life (1:42:44) - Who Inspires Karl Friston? (Helmholtz & Feynman) (1:53:52) - Will Karl ever write an "easy read"? (1:56:52) - Karl's recommended reading (2:01:09) - Conclusion Website · YouTube

Guru Viking Podcast
Ep201: Revealing Nirodha Samāpatti - Delson Armstrong, Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, & Dr Laukkonen

Guru Viking Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2023 107:56


Special guests Delson Armstrong and Dr Ruben Laukkonen discuss their latest ground-breaking paper ‘Cessations of consciousness in meditation: Advancing a scientific understanding of nirodha samāpatti' in which Delson Armstrong's ability to enter the rarefied state of nirodha samāpatti, a feat of extended cessation achievable by only the most virtuoso meditators, was tested by Dr Laukkonen and Prof Slatger's neuroscience team with astonishing results. They join the ongoing discussion with: - Shinzen Young, meditation teacher and neuroscience research consultant - Chelsey Fasano, a Columbia University neuroscience graduate
 Delson and Dr Laukkonen tell the story of their study, how it came to be, the various tests they administered, and why they believe the results are so remarkable. Delson describes the meditation method he uses to enter into the state of nirodha samāpatti and to stay there for up to seven days, how he can determine in advance to the minute when he will exit the state, and the profound effects on the mind after a period of extended cessation. Shinzen analyses Delson's abilities, probes the mathematical models used in the study, and shares his own work creating enlightened AI arhats. The panel also discuss possible scientific connections between Buddhist doctrines such as the five aggregates, dependent origination, and the 3 Gates of Liberation. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep201-revealing-nirodha-sampatti-delson-armstrong-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-dr-ruben-laukonnen Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast'.
 … Topics Include: 00:00 - Intro 01:37 - Discovering Delson's nirodha samāpatti abilities 05:21 - Dr Laukkonen's skepticism 06:48 - Testing Delson in the lab 11:05 - The data analysis and comparison with Harvard lab findings 15:12 - Implications of the decrease in alpha synchronisation 16:47 - Phase lag index 19:08 - Alpha vs gamma frequencies in contemplative neuroscience 20:57 - Delson's side of the story 23:37 - Rigorous training in ‘jhana hopping' 25:42 - Delson's account of the lab tests 28:26 - Timing the exit from jhana using meditative intentions 29:45 - Remaining in nirodhia samāpatti for 6 days 30:51 - How many others can do this? 34:02 - How to enter nirodha samāpatti 46:06 - Shinzen analyses Delson's report 40:05 - Dr Laukkonen comments on the aggregates and meditative intention 42:50 - Possible links to hibernation 47:40 - The 3 Gates of Liberation and Friston's free energy 53:25 - Predictive processing all the way down 56:55 - Similarities to St Teresa of Ávila's stages of Catholic meditation 01:01:13 - Delson's Catholic family and religious syncretism 01:03:24 - Conseqences of nirodhia samāpatti 01:05:34 - Pratītyasamutpāda for arhats 01:09:05 - The ego as a survival mechanism 01:11:31 - Networks and the multiverse 01:13:53 - John Carlos Baez's mathematics and modelling pratītyasamutpāda 01:22:28 - Creating enlightened AI 01:32:30 - Creating AI arhats and Shinzen's vision 01:37:49 - Neurofeedback devices for meditation teaching 01:43:02 - Dr Laukkonen challenges tech interventions aimed at inducing enlightenment 01:46:36 - Setting up the sequel … To read the paper, visit: - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079612322001984?dgcid=author#t0010 Previous episodes in this series: - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkzlKFgdknxjhwG5wmXRVfrkeGczVPVI Previous episodes with Delson Armstrong: - https://www.guruviking.com/search?q=delson To find out more about Delson Armstrong, visit: - https://delsonarmstrong.info/ - https://www.suttavada.foundation/our-teachers/ - https://www.dhammasukha.org/ To find out more about Dr Ruben Laukkonen, visit: - https://rubenlaukkonen.com/ To find out more about Shinzen Young: - www.shinzen.org To find out more about Chelsey Fasano: - www.chelseyfasano.com For more interviews: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Converging Dialogues
#224 - Brains As Prediction Machines: A Dialogue with Andy Clark

Converging Dialogues

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2023 123:16


In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andy Clark about prediction processing, embodiment, and reality. They discuss the predictive processing model, Bayesian brain, and the role of human growth and development for the brain. They question what is reality, Friston's Free Energy Principle, controlled hallucinations, and computational psychiatry. They also talk about reward vs. salience, prediction error, body budget, consciousness, the extended mind, and many other topics.Andy Clark is a Philosopher and Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex. His main research interests are embodied cognition, computational neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. He is the author of numerous books including his most recent book, The Experience Machine. You can find his work here.Twitter: @cogsandy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit convergingdialogues.substack.com

Singularity University Radio
FBL99: Karl Friston - How Free Energy Shapes the Future of AI

Singularity University Radio

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2023 35:37


This week my guest is professor of neuroscience at University College London, Karl Friston. Viewed by many as one of the world's most influential neuroscientists, Friston rose to prominence when he pioneered one of the key techniques that allows neuroscientists to analyze brain activity. And as if that wasn't enough, he has since developed the Free Energy Principle, which some see as monumental to the field as Darwin's theory of evolution was for biology and genetics.  It's this work on the Free Energy principle that will be the bulk of our conversation in this episode, and I warn you that this is probably one of the most intellectually challenging conversations we've had on the show. To help you navigate this, I want to offer just a quick overview that may aid in understanding the ideas. In essence, Friston's work roughly states that entities that exist must track information from the world around them, create an internal model of that information, and then use that model to navigate the world in a way that reduces the difference (the error) between what was actually experienced and what one's model predicted.  While this concept may seem simple on the surface, the actual science behind it is detailed, complex, and holds immense influence for how we develop artificial intelligence. Learn more about Friston and his work at fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ ** Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music by: Amine el Filali

Nourish Balance Thrive
Psychedelics and Sleep

Nourish Balance Thrive

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2023 87:30


Sleep, nutrition, and metabolism expert Greg Potter, PhD, is back on the podcast today with a new twist on help for those interested in sleep. Greg is an international public speaker, science writer, consultant and coach, focusing on working with individuals and organisations to adopt easy and long-lasting lifestyle modifications that add years and quality to life. His work has appeared in dozens of worldwide media sources, including Reuters, TIME, and The Washington Post, and he frequently contributes to prominent websites, blogs, and podcasts. On today's podcast, Greg joins Chris to discuss the use of psychedelic drugs for improved sleep and mental health. Greg talks about the types of psychedelics currently being researched, including psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA, their mechanisms of action, and their potential roles in improving sleep and health. He shares some of the most interesting results from the clinical literature, including therapeutic effects for treatment-resistant depression and the impact of these substances when combined with meditation or psychotherapy.  Here's the outline of this episode with Greg Potter: [00:05:28] What are psychedelics? [00:06:33] Main types of psychedelics. [00:09:37] Uses of psychedelics. [00:12:01] Minidosing and microdosing. [00:13:09] Psilocybin use as a spiritually significant event; Study:  Griffiths, Roland R., et al. "Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects." Psychopharmacology 218 (2011): 649-665. [00:14:14] Mystical experiences. [00:16:00] Mechanisms of action. [00:20:01] Greg's experience with psychedelics. [00:30:27] Integration work. [00:32:47] Entourage effects. [00:37:18] Chris's experiences with psychedelics. [00:41:22] Relaxing priors; Carhart-Harris and K. Friston; Study: Carhart-Harris, Robin L., and Karl J. Friston. "REBUS and the anarchic brain: toward a unified model of the brain action of psychedelics." Pharmacological reviews 71.3 (2019): 316-344. [00:41:45] Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle; Paper: Friston, Karl. "The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory?." Nature reviews neuroscience 11.2 (2010): 127-138. [00:43:47] Psychedelics and sleep architecture. [00:49:51] Psilocybin and sleep; Study: Dudysová, Daniela, et al. "The effects of daytime psilocybin administration on sleep: implications for antidepressant action." Frontiers in pharmacology 11 (2020): 602590. [00:51:58] Ayahuasca and sleep; Study: Barbanoj, Manel J., et al. "Daytime Ayahuasca administration modulates REM and slow-wave sleep in healthy volunteers." Psychopharmacology 196 (2008): 315-326. [00:54:34] REM sleep and dreaming. [00:58:42] Hobson's Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis. [00:59:38] Lucid dreaming. [01:00:02] Book: When Brains Dream: Understanding the Science and Mystery of Our Dreaming Minds, by Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold. [01:00:04] Videos: TedX talk - Sleep, Memory and Dreams: Fitting the Pieces Together and other videos. [01:03:41] Fear Extinction. [01:05:32] Podcast: From Magic to Mindfulness: The Evolution of an Entrepreneur, with Jason Connell. [01:07:33] Combining LSD and MDMA; Study: Schmid, Yasmin, et al. "Acute subjective effects in LSD-and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy." Journal of Psychopharmacology 35.4 (2021): 362-374. [01:08:31] Psychedelics as adjunct to other interventions. [01:09:16] Review: Payne, Jake E., Richard Chambers, and Paul Liknaitzky. "Combining psychedelic and mindfulness interventions: Synergies to inform clinical practice." ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 4.2 (2021): 416-423. [01:09:57] Psilocybin combined with other spiritual practices; Study: Griffiths, Roland R., et al. "Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors." Journal of Psychopharmacology 32.1 (2018): 49-69. [01:12:01] Psilocybin with expert meditators; Study: Smigielski, Lukasz, et al. "Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat." Scientific reports 9.1 (2019): 1-13. [01:13:25] Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). [01:14:59] Podcast: Microdosing Psychedelics and the Placebo Effect, with Balázs Szigeti. [01:20:08] Psilocybin without psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression; Study: Goodwin, Guy M., et al. "Single-dose psilocybin for a treatment-resistant episode of major depression." New England Journal of Medicine 387.18 (2022): 1637-1648. [01:21:58] Drug harms; Review: Nutt, David J., Leslie A. King, and Lawrence D. Phillips. "Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis." The Lancet 376.9752 (2010): 1558-1565. [01:23:41] Potential contamination; Fentanyl. [01:25:29] Find Greg online: gregpotterphd.com; Instagram.

Machine Learning Street Talk
#106 - Prof. KARL FRISTON 3.0 - Collective Intelligence [Special Edition]

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2023 179:20


This show is sponsored by Numerai, please visit them here with our sponsor link (we would really appreciate it) http://numer.ai/mlst Prof. Karl Friston recently proposed a vision of artificial intelligence that goes beyond machines and algorithms, and embraces humans and nature as part of a cyber-physical ecosystem of intelligence. This vision is based on the principle of active inference, which states that intelligent systems can learn from their observations and act on their environment to reduce uncertainty and achieve their goals. This leads to a formal account of collective intelligence that rests on shared narratives and goals. To realize this vision, Friston suggests developing a shared hyper-spatial modelling language and transaction protocol, as well as novel methods for measuring and optimizing collective intelligence. This could harness the power of artificial intelligence for the common good, without compromising human dignity or autonomy. It also challenges us to rethink our relationship with technology, nature, and each other, and invites us to join a global community of sense-makers who are curious about the world and eager to improve it. YT version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_VXOdf1NMw Support us! https://www.patreon.com/mlst MLST Discord: https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5 TOC: Intro [00:00:00] Numerai (Sponsor segment) [00:07:10] Designing Ecosystems of Intelligence from First Principles (Friston et al) [00:09:48] Information / Infosphere and human agency [00:18:30] Intelligence [00:31:38] Reductionism [00:39:36] Universalism [00:44:46] Emergence [00:54:23] Markov blankets [01:02:11] Whole part relationships / structure learning [01:22:33] Enactivism [01:29:23] Knowledge and Language [01:43:53] ChatGPT [01:50:56] Ethics (is-ought) [02:07:55] Can people be evil? [02:35:06] Ethics in Al, subjectiveness [02:39:05] Final thoughts [02:57:00] References: Designing Ecosystems of Intelligence from First Principles (Friston et al) https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.01354 GLOM - How to represent part-whole hierarchies in a neural network (Hinton) https://arxiv.org/pdf/2102.12627.pdf Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (Carlo Rovelli) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Brief-Lessons-Physics-Rovelli/dp/0141981725 How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain (Lisa Feldman Barrett) https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Emotions-Are-Made-Secret/dp/B01N3D4OON Am I Self-Conscious? (Or Does Self-Organization Entail Self-Consciousness?) (Karl Friston) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00579/full Integrated information theory (Giulio Tononi) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_information_theory

The Nonlinear Library
LW - Why I'm not into the Free Energy Principle by Steven Byrnes

The Nonlinear Library

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2023 14:13


Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Why I'm not into the Free Energy Principle, published by Steven Byrnes on March 2, 2023 on LessWrong. 0. But first, some things I do like, that are appropriately emphasized in the FEP-adjacent literature I like the idea that in humans, the cortex (and the cortex specifically, in conjunction with the thalamus, but definitely not the whole brain IMO) has a generative model that's making explicit predictions about upcoming sensory inputs, and is updating that generative model on the prediction errors. For example, as I see the ball falling towards the ground, I'm expecting it to bounce; if it doesn't bounce, then the next time I see it falling, I'll expect it to not bounce. This idea is called “self-supervised learning” in ML. AFAICT this idea is uncontroversial in neuroscience, and is widely endorsed even by people very far from the FEP-sphere like Jeff Hawkins and Randall O'Reilly and Yann LeCun. Well at any rate, I for one think it's true. I like the (related) idea that the human cortex interprets sensory inputs by matching them to a corresponding generative model, in a way that's at least loosely analogous to probabilistic inference. For example, in the neon color spreading optical illusion below, the thing you “see” is a generative model that includes a blue-tinted solid circle, even though that circle is not directly present in the visual stimulus. (The background is in fact uniformly white.) I like the (related) idea that my own actions are part of this generative model. For example, if I believe I am about to stand up, then I predict that my head is about to move, that my chair is about to shift, etc.—and part of that is a prediction that my own muscles will in fact execute the planned maneuvers. So just to be explicit, the following seems perfectly fine to me: First you say “Hmm, I think maybe the thalamocortical system in the mammalian brain processes sensory inputs via approximate Bayesian inference”, and then you start doing a bunch of calculations related to that, and maybe you'll even find that some of those calculations involve a term labeled “variational free energy”. OK cool, good luck with that, I have no objections. (Or if I do, they're outside the scope of this post.) My complaint here is about the Free Energy Principle as originally conceived by Friston, i.e. as a grand unified theory of the whole brain, even including things like the circuit deep in your brainstem that regulates your heart rate. OK, now that we're hopefully on the same page about exactly what I am and am not ranting about, let the rant begin! 1. The Free Energy Principle is an unfalsifiable tautology It is widely accepted that FEP is an unfalsifiable tautology, including by proponents—see for example Beren Millidge, or Friston himself. By the same token, once we find a computer-verified proof of any math theorem, we have revealed that it too is an unfalsifiable tautology. Even Fermat's Last Theorem is now known to be a direct logical consequence of the axioms of math—arguably just a fancy way of writing 0=0. So again, FEP is an unfalsifiable tautology. What does that mean in practice? Well, It means that I am entitled to never think about FEP. Anything that you can derive from FEP, you can derive directly from the same (very basic and uncontroversial) underlying premises from which FEP itself can be proven, without ever mentioning FEP. So the question is really whether FEP is helpful. Here are two possible analogies: (1) Noether's Theorem (if the laws of physics have a symmetry, they also have a corresponding conservation law) is also an unfalsifiable tautology. (2) The pointless bit of math trivia 2592=2592 is also an unfalsifiable tautology. In both cases, I don't have to mention these facts. But in the case of (1)—but not (2)—I want to. More specifically, here's a very specific ...

Smarter Not Harder
Dr. Karl Friston: Why Health Care Practitioners Should Learn About Artificial Intelligence

Smarter Not Harder

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2023 190:32


Why should doctors and health care practitioners learn about artificial intelligence? This is one of the main topics we dive into in this episode of the Smarter Not Harder podcast with guest, Karl Friston.  Karl John Friston FRS FMedSci FRSB is one of the greatest scientists in history whose work has been cited over 245,000 times. He is a British neuroscientist and theoretician at University College London. He is an authority on brain imaging and theoretical neuroscience, especially the use of physics-inspired statistical methods to model neuroimaging data and other random dynamical systems. Karl gives us one cent solutions for the following $64,000 dollar questions:  1. What does "I am therefore I think" mean in the context of the free energy principle? And, what do psychedelics have to do with it? 2. How does one go about inventing in tools to investigate this connection hypothesis of schizophrenia? 3. Why should doctors and health care practitioners learn about artificial intelligence?  If you want to the answers to these questions, hold on tight, we're about to go on an extremely deep dive into these topics! What we discuss:  0:00:43- About Dr. Karl Friston 00:7:22- The disconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia 00:12:07- The challenges of developing tools to investigate the connection hypothesis of schizophrenia 00:24:14 The difficulties of presenting ideas that are ahead of time  00:32:01 How Dr. Karl Friston got involved in the COVID situation 00:45:16 The free energy principle and coacervate droplets 00:59:13 Is biological life necessary for consciousness or is self evidencing enough?  01:09:50 The different theories for explaining the nature of things 01:18:18 The uncertainty of beliefs  01:26:03 What is the REBUS model? 01:33:16 How psychedelics can induce entropy in a controlled way  01:46:37 The definition of Artificial Intelligence  01:51:59 What is the embodied cognition? 01:58:06 Is curiosity necessary for the expression of the free energy principle?   02:14:05 Learning as humans in evolution  02:27:35 The future of machine learning models  02:33:00 What imaging tools need to be developed for the future 02:41:31 What's next for pharmacology 02:51:59 How we should proceed with psychedelic research Find more from Smarter Not Harder: Website: https://troscriptions.com/blogs/podcast / https://homehope.org Instagram: @troscriptions | @homehopeorg   Get 10% Off Your Purchase of Metabolomics Module by using PODCAST10 athttps://www.homehope.org   Get 10% Off your Trosciptions purchase by using POD10 at https://www.troscriptions.com   Get daily content from the hosts of Smarter Not Harder by following @troscriptions on Instagram. 

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
321. A Conversation So Intense It Might Transcend Time and Space | John Vervaeke

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2023 114:48 Very Popular


Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: https://utm.io/ueSXh Dr Jordan B Peterson and John Vervaeke discuss entropy reduction, incremental fact gathering, systems of complexity and the ultimate unity in the holy spirit. John Vervaeke is an Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. His work constructs a bridge between science and spirituality in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness and the cultivation of wisdom so as to afford awakening from the meaning crisis. - Sponsors - Hallow: Try Hallow for 3 months FREE: https://hallow.com/jordan Birch Gold: Text "JORDAN" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation, FREE information kit. - Links -For John Vervaeke:Episode One of After Socrates: https://youtu.be/bIJuIN6kUcUWebsite: https://johnvervaeke.com/ - Chapters - (0:00) Coming Up(1:24) Intro(5:00) Entropy reduction(6:30) Friston, big picture cognitive science(9:00) Surprise and micro narratives(14:00) Domains of measurement(16:15) The problem with pragmatism(19:00) Incremental fact gathering(21:25) Spiraling pathways(24:38) Oneness, Piaget(27:25) Graceful degradation(31:30) Connectivity, network organization(34:00) Genome aging and mutation(36:00) Gist, mutual predictability(38:00) Nihilism, false arguments(41:20) Cartesian reality(43:30) levels of abstraction, meta games(46:45) Hierarchy of unity, internal dialogues(48:30) When a system complexifies(52:40) Overarching harmony,(1:01:00) Zombie complex, nature and function(1:03:00) The function of consciousness(1:05:00) Insight, relevance realization(1:07:00) Adverbial connections(1:10:00) God, Hermes, the burning bush(1:13:15) A multitude of goals(1:15:00) Acts of integration, profound synthesis(1:17:00) The ultimate unity as a spirit(1:21:00) Pluripotential Chaos(1:24:20) Pride and suffering(1:27:00) Self deception, heuristics(1:29:00) Cognitive evolution, static perfection(1:33:00) Distributed insight, humility(1:35:30) Zone of proximal development(1:37:00) The ides of the culmination(1:39:00) Generative being, logos(1:40:44) After Socrates(1:46:00) Conditions for relevancy(1:47:30) Practices of socracy(1:50:00) Profound emergence // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/youtubesignupDonations: https://jordanbpeterson.com/donate // COURSES //Discovering Personality: https://jordanbpeterson.com/personalitySelf Authoring Suite: https://selfauthoring.comUnderstand Myself (personality test): https://understandmyself.com // BOOKS //Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: https://jordanbpeterson.com/Beyond-Order12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: https://jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-lifeMaps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: https://jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning // LINKS //Website: https://jordanbpeterson.comEvents: https://jordanbpeterson.com/eventsBlog: https://jordanbpeterson.com/blogPodcast: https://jordanbpeterson.com/podcast // SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanbpetersonInstagram: https://instagram.com/jordan.b.petersonFacebook: https://facebook.com/drjordanpetersonTelegram: https://t.me/DrJordanPetersonAll socials: https://linktr.ee/drjordanbpeterson #JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus

Demystifying Science
The New Laws of Robotics - Dr. Karl Friston, Cognitive Neuroscientist

Demystifying Science

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2022 85:40


Dr. Karl Friston is the most widely-cited neuroscientist in the world, known for his development of parametric mapping, a method for comparing brain scans between different patients that basically enabled the whole field of functional neuroscience. To follow up his insights into the human brain, Dr. Friston has turned his mathematical mind to other questions of life and consciousness, such as the distinction between living and not-living, the simplest division imaginable between things, and the great challenge of encoding emotional states. We dig into what a soulful robot might look like, and the new class of myths that humans and robots are going to have to write together. Support the scientific revolution with a monthly donation: https://bit.ly/3lcAasB #consciousness #artificialintelligence #future Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Michael Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

Machine Learning Street Talk
#82 - Dr. JOSCHA BACH - Digital Physics, DL and Consciousness [UNPLUGGED]

Machine Learning Street Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2022 75:18


AI Helps Ukraine - Charity Conference A charity conference on AI to raise funds for medical and humanitarian aid for Ukraine https://aihelpsukraine.cc/ YT version: https://youtu.be/LgwjcqhkOA4 Support us! https://www.patreon.com/mlst Dr. Joscha Bach (born 1973 in Weimar, Germany) is a German artificial intelligence researcher and cognitive scientist focusing on cognitive architectures, mental representation, emotion, social modelling, and multi-agent systems. http://bach.ai/ https://twitter.com/plinz TOC: [00:00:00] Ukraine Charity Conference and NeurIPS 2022 [00:03:40] Theory of computation, Godel, Penrose [00:11:44] Modelling physical reality [00:15:19] Is our universe infinite? [00:24:30] Large language models, and on DL / is Gary Marcus hitting a wall? [00:45:17] Generative models / Codex / Language of thought [00:58:46] Consciousness (with Friston references) References: Am I Self-Conscious? (Or Does Self-Organization Entail Self-Consciousness?) [Friston] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00579/full Impact of Pretraining Term Frequencies on Few-Shot Reasoning [Yasaman Razeghi] https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.07206 Deep Learning Is Hitting a Wall [Gary Marcus] https://nautil.us/deep-learning-is-hitting-a-wall-238440/ Turing machines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine Lambda Calculus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_calculus Godel's incompletness theorem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems Oracle machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_machine

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
308. AI: The Beast or Jerusalem? | Jonathan Pageau & Jim Keller

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2022 86:25


Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: https://utm.io/ueSXh Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Jonathan Pageau, and Jim Keller dive into the world of artificial intelligence, debating the pros and cons of technological achievement, and ascertaining whether smarter tech is something to fear or encourage. Jim Keller is a microprocessor engineer known for his work at Apple and AMD. He has served in the role of architect for numerous game changing processors, has co-authored multiple instruction sets for highly complicated designs, and is credited for being the key player behind AMD's renewed ability to compete with Intel in the high-end CPU market. In 2016, Keller joined Tesla, becoming Vice President of Autopilot Hardware Engineering. In 2018, he became a Senior Vice President for Intel. In 2020, he resigned due to disagreements over outsourcing production, but quickly found a new position at Tenstorrent, as Chief Technical Officer. Jonathan Pageau is a French-Canadian liturgical artist and icon carver, known for his work featured in museums across the world. He carves Eastern Orthodox and other traditional images, and teaches an online carving class. He also runs a YouTube channel dedicated to the exploration of symbolism across history and religion.  —Links— For Jonathan Pageau: Icon Carving: http://www.pageaucarvings.com Podcast: www.thesymbolicworld.com Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JonathanPageau For Jim Keller: Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jimkxaJim's Speech, "10 Problems to Solve": https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o70yKYWgtVI&t=21s Jim's Speech, "Overclocking AI": https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L4AgmG8V3LE&t=3s https://open.spotify.com/episode/13evHqkSPMpMMU1zfXEtAg?si=cCmtYe8yQsaAV9_ZUN8j7Q Ian Banks References: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series— Chapters — (0:00) Coming up(1:48) Intro(5:00) Conceptualizing artificial intelligence(9:10) Language models and story prediction(12:20) Deep story and prompt engineering(18:10) Friston, error prediction and emotional mapping(23:37) Generative models(24:36) Does the intelligence in AI come from humans?(27:26) Can AI have goals that are not understandable to humans?(30:22) When a human records data vs an AI(34:00) When will AI become autonomous?(37:48) To create what could supplant you(47:36) When technology is used to achieve desire, unintended consequences(55:14) Abundance and nihilism(58:30) High human goals and the weaponization of intelligence(1:04:28) AI: Who will hold the keys?(1:14:09) Technology through biblical imagery(1:17:30) When the term “AI” ceases to make sense(1:20:12) What will humans worship in the tech age? // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/youtubesignupDonations: https://jordanbpeterson.com/donate // COURSES //Discovering Personality: https://jordanbpeterson.com/personalitySelf Authoring Suite: https://selfauthoring.comUnderstand Myself (personality test): https://understandmyself.com // BOOKS //Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: https://jordanbpeterson.com/Beyond-Order12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: https://jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-lifeMaps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: https://jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning // LINKS //Website: https://jordanbpeterson.comEvents: https://jordanbpeterson.com/eventsBlog: https://jordanbpeterson.com/blogPodcast: https://jordanbpeterson.com/podcast // SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanbpetersonInstagram: https://instagram.com/jordan.b.petersonFacebook: https://facebook.com/drjordanpetersonTelegram: https://t.me/DrJordanPetersonAll socials: https://linktr.ee/drjordanbpeterson #JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
298. Perception: Chaos and Order | Dr. Karl Friston

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2022 92:34 Very Popular


Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: https://utm.io/ueSXh Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and Dr. Karl Friston discuss the world as we perceive it through micro narratives, how those narratives exist within a structured hierarchy, and how we can manipulate the system, and thus change our own mindsets. Dr. Karl Friston is a renowned neuroscientist, and one of the leading researchers in brain imagery. He is credited for inventing statistical parametric mapping, an international standard for the analysis of imaging data. His work also pertains to the free energy principle, and predictive coding theory. Currently, he works as a professor of neuroscience at the University College London. — Sponsors  — Hallow: Try Hallow for 3 months FREE: https://hallow.com/jordan Invest in art today with Masterworks at http://masterworks.art/jbp.See important disclosures at https://masterworks.com/cd. — Chapters — (0:00) Coming up(1:04) Intro(2:43) The binding of entropy(5:25) Motivation and Fantasy(15:00) Hierarchy of micro narratives(29:30) Frans de Waal, the paradox in prediction(37:50) Inference and assuming the story(46:15) Dopamine and diatic narratives(54:33) Serotonin, the depressive mindset(1:07:31) Acetylcholine(1:10:29) The need to minimize free energy(1:16:48) The left and right hemisphere(1:22:20) Psychedelics and functional narratives  // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/youtubesignupDonations: https://jordanbpeterson.com/donate // COURSES //Discovering Personality: https://jordanbpeterson.com/personalitySelf Authoring Suite: https://selfauthoring.comUnderstand Myself (personality test): https://understandmyself.com // BOOKS //Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: https://jordanbpeterson.com/Beyond-Order12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: https://jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-lifeMaps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: https://jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning // LINKS //Website: https://jordanbpeterson.comEvents: https://jordanbpeterson.com/eventsBlog: https://jordanbpeterson.com/blogPodcast: https://jordanbpeterson.com/podcast // SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanbpetersonInstagram: https://instagram.com/jordan.b.petersonFacebook: https://facebook.com/drjordanpetersonTelegram: https://t.me/DrJordanPetersonAll socials: https://linktr.ee/drjordanbpeterson #JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus

Shaping Opinion
Neuroscientist Karl Friston on Intelligence and Free Energy

Shaping Opinion

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2022 67:55


Pioneering neuroscientist Karl Friston joins Tim to talk about a concept he's developed called the free-energy principle, which may hold the key to advancing the understanding human intelligence as we know it. Karl is a theoretical neuroscientist. He's an authority on brain imaging. His work has advanced mankind's understanding of schizophrenia, among other things. At the moment, he's becoming better known as the originator of the free-energy principle for human action and perception. In this episode, we'll talk with Karl about that free-energy principle, what it is, what it means and what it can mean for the future. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/Karl_Friston_Final_auphonic.mp3 I hope you have your coffee and are sitting in a comfortable place, because this conversation is going to introduce you to some entirely new thinking from one of the world's most unique scientific thinkers, Karl Friston. Before we get started, you need to know a little about Karl, and you will need an explanation of some of the words we will use here. Karl Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist. As mentioned, he is an authority on brain imaging.  1990, he invented something called statistical parametric mapping or (SPM).  invented SPM, a computational technique that helps create brain images in a consistent shape so researchers can make consistent comparisons. He then invented Voxel-based morphometry or (VBM). An example of this is when he studied London taxi drivers to measure the rear side of the brain's hippocampus to watch it grow as their knowledge of the streets grew. After that, he invented something called dynamic causal modeling (DCM) for brain imaging, to determine if people who have severe brain damage or minimally conscious or vegetative. He is one of the most frequently cited neuroscientists in the world.  Each one of these inventions centered on schizophrenia research and theoretical studies of value-learning – formulated as the dysconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia. To try to simplify, it's the hypothesis that when the so-called wiring in your brain isn't all connecting properly. Karl currently works on models of functional integration in the human brain and the principles that underlie neuronal interactions. His main contribution to theoretical neurobiology is a free-energy principle for action and perception (active inference).  That's what we cover in this episode. Karl received the first Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping in 1996. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999. Since then, he has received numerous other honors and recognition for his work. Links The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI, Wired Karl Friston, The Helix Center Karl Friston and the Free Energy Principle, ExploringYourMind.com About this Episode's Guest Karl Friston Karl Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging. He invented statistical parametric mapping (SPM), voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). These contributions were motivated by schizophrenia research and theoretical studies of value-learning, formulated as the dysconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia. Mathematical contributions include variational Laplacian procedures and generalized filtering for hierarchical Bayesian model inversion. Friston currently works on models of functional integration in the human brain and the principles that underlie neuronal interactions. His main contribution to theoretical neurobiology is a free-energy principle for action and perception (active inference). Friston received the first Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping (1996) and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. In 2003 he was awarded the Minerva Golden Brain Award and was elected a Fellow of th...

The Authors Unite Show
Karl Friston: The Brain's Suprising Energy

The Authors Unite Show

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2022 47:59


In this episode of The Tyler Wagner Show with Philip Stutts shares Building An Audience Using The Secret Formula. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite here: https://authorsunite.com/​​​​​​ Thank you for listening to The Tyler Wagner Show! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/authorsunite/support

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Michael Levin Λ Karl Friston Λ Chris Fields on The Meta Hard Problem, Consciousness, and Babbling

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2022 115:45 Very Popular


YouTube link: https://youtu.be/J6eJ44Jq_pw Sponsor: Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/TOE for 20% off Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802 Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch LINKS MENTIONED: Curt's AMA #:3 https://youtu.be/SX9q2D6b5bc Karl Friston #2: https://youtu.be/SWtFU1Lit3M Karl Friston #1: https://youtu.be/2v7LBABwZKA Michael Levin: https://youtu.be/Z0TNfysTazc TIMESTAMPS: 0:00:00 Introduction 00:03:20 Michael Levin answers: "What do you respect about Chris / Karl?" 00:04:45 Chris Fields answers: "What do you respect about Michael / Karl?" 00:05:45 Karl Friston answers: "What do you respect about Chris / Michael?" 00:07:46 Self organization / Autopoiesis / Why does life form? 00:12:11 How does cognition emerge from smaller parts? 00:14:18 Why do we see "things" independent from one another? Why in space / time? 00:18:40 Relationship between cognition and consciousness 00:22:03 The Meta Hard Problem 00:30:37 Why is complexity associated with "awareness"? 00:35:56 Is society one large brain, with each person acting as a neuron? 00:44:17 Duality between: Did you act on the world? Or did the world act on you? 00:51:32 Babbling, and becoming a "self" 01:11:22 "300 milliseconds" is a special unit of time for consciousness 01:15:49 Quantum Babbling 01:21:49 The difference between "randomness" and "quantum randomness" 01:30:03 The difference between "external" and "internal" are both real and illusory 01:33:41 Studying consciousness / the self and the concomitant existential dread 01:48:19 Michael Levin: "Something important goes all the way down" 01:51:12 Science starts with faith * * * Just wrapped (April 2021) a documentary called Better Left Unsaid http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com on the topic of "when does the left go too far?" Visit that site if you'd like to watch it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices