The Importance of Prediction in Perception

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It's similar to the idea of file compression. If we have a JPEG or an MPEG that there are some patterns that are repeated, so you can just assume that they keep going. And then you pay attention to the differences. And those are what we're talking about as errors in the brain case. Yes. That's certainly correct when we come back to thinking about perception and something like that is involved in action too. But it does seem like it's easier to think about that bit in the case of perception where the idea would be that I predict the current sensory flow and it's only the errors in that prediction that then need further processing.

What is the mind, and what does it try to do? An overly simplified materialist view might be that the mind emerges from physical processes in the brain. But you can be a materialist and still recognize that there is more to the mind than just the brain: the rest of our bodies play a role, and arguably we should count physical artifacts that contribute to our memory and cognition as part of "the mind." Or so argues today's guest, philosopher/cognitive scientist Andy Clark. As to what the mind does, it tries to predict what happens next. This simple idea provides a powerful lens through which to interpret all the different things our minds do, including the idea that "perception is controlled hallucination."

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Andy Clark received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Sussex. He is currently Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at Sussex. He was Director of the Philosophy/Neuroscience/Psychology Program at Washington University in St Louis, and Director of the Cogntive Science Program at Indiana University. His new book is The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality.

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