10min chapter

The Dissenter cover image

#1054 Kathryn Nave - A Drive to Survive: The Free Energy Principle and the Meaning of Life

The Dissenter

CHAPTER

Understanding Living Agents: Energy, Goals, and Purposiveness

This chapter examines how living systems are distinct from non-living ones through the lens of the free energy principle, emphasizing their dependency on energy and goals. It critiques traditional definitions of life while exploring the unique characteristics of goal-directedness that delineate biological processes from mechanical functions.

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