Andy Clark - How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
Jul 25, 2023
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In this podcast, philosopher Andy Clark discusses the Predictive Brain theory and the Extended Mind hypothesis. He explores topics such as the role of predictions in shaping reality and emotions, the power of talking to oneself, and the theory of mind as prediction machines. The podcast also touches on practical interventions for depression and the relationship between ideas and Russian psychology.
Our perception, judgment, and bodily sensations are influenced by hidden predictions, shaping our overall experience of reality.
The brain's predictions guide our actions, involving both generating predictions and minimizing prediction errors to align with our expectations.
Our experience of the world is a controlled hallucination shaped by prior knowledge and expectations, allowing us to make sense of our surroundings.
Deep dives
The brain as a prediction engine
The podcast episode explores how the brain functions as a prediction engine, constantly generating predictions and expectations that mediate our experiences of the world. This predictive processing framework suggests that our perception, judgment, and even bodily sensations are all influenced by hidden predictions, shaping our overall experience of reality.
The brain's control of perception and action
The brain's predictions not only shape our perception of the world, but also guide our actions. The brain predicts how our own body and the external world should behave, allowing us to interact with our environment effectively. This predictive control of action involves both generating predictions and minimizing prediction errors to ensure our actions align with our expectations.
The role of prediction in our experience of the world
According to the podcast, our experience of the world is a controlled hallucination. Our brain's predictions define how we perceive, feel, and interact with our environment. These predictions are based on prior knowledge and expectations, and they continuously shape our understanding of reality. The brain's ability to predict and generate expectations allows us to make sense of the world around us.
The importance of extended cognition
The podcast introduces the concept of extended cognition, suggesting that our cognitive capabilities extend beyond the boundaries of our brain. External tools and technologies, such as smartphones and notebooks, can function as part of our cognitive apparatus, augmenting our memory and expanding our knowledge. This idea challenges the traditional notion that cognition is solely internal to the brain.
Implications for mental health and human experience
The podcast explores the implications of the predictive processing framework for mental health and human experience. It suggests that understanding the role of predictions in psychiatric disorders, such as depression, could lead to new interventions and treatments. Additionally, the idea of prediction and extended cognition offers new perspectives on how we perceive and interact with the world, highlighting the dynamic and intertwined nature of our minds and external resources.
How do our minds build our worlds? One of the most important living thinkers in cognitive science and philosophy joined us with a grand new vision to explain our lived experience.
Hugely renowned in the cognitive sciences for the Extended Mind hypothesis, which explained the way in which tools seem to become part of ‘us’ many years before smartphones, laptops, and the internet made all of us feel one with our machines, philosopher Andy Clark is the leading researcher of Predictive Brain theory – the nearest thing we have to a unified science of the mind. With profound consequences for how we make sense of our selves and of society, this theory will forever reframe your understanding of the world we live in and the worlds we create.
