Kathryn Nave ~ Active Inference Insights 020 ~ Agency, Vision, Life
Jun 20, 2024
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Kathryn Nave, an expert in the Free Energy Principle and active inference, discusses agency, teleology, causality, constraints, predictability, attractor sets, memory transformation, human agency, perception, predictive processing, and consciousness in living systems.
Development of Book and Understanding of Free Energy Principle
The guest talks about the circuitous process that led to writing her book, 'A Drive to Survive, The Free Energy Principle and the Meaning of Life'. She aimed to make the philosophical ideas of the Free Energy Principle accessible to a broader audience by explaining the formal aspects in a non-mathematical and intuitive way.
Purposefulness and Agency in Living Systems
The discussion delves into the notion of agency and purposefulness in living systems and challenges the idea of a stable attractor set guiding behavior. It explores the unpredictability and transformative nature of living systems, emphasizing how they can persist even when disrupted, leading to novel behaviors and outcomes.
Self-Individuation and Autonomy in Systems
The conversation examines the concept of self-individuation and autonomy within living systems, highlighting the dynamic nature of boundaries and constraints that define individuality. It considers the role of constraints in defining and maintaining individuality, showing how systems adapt and change while still retaining a sense of self and autonomy.
Perception, Action, and Phenomenological Experience
The dialogue addresses the relationship between perception and action in shaping phenomenological experience, drawing insights from the work of philosopher Susan Hurley. It questions the traditional view of perception as passive reception of information, suggesting that perceptual experiences are actively constructed and influenced by action, challenging the myth of the given.
Determinism and Emergence in Living Systems
The exchange probes into the balance between determinism and emergence in living systems, considering how systems adapt and evolve unpredictably while also exhibiting stable patterns. It reflects on the interplay of randomness and attractor sets in defining the behavior and persistence of individual entities, challenging notions of equilibrium and identity.
Reflection on Perception and Action Relationship
The discussion highlights the complex relationship between perception and action, questioning the underlying purpose of both processes. There is a critical examination of the circular dependence between action and perception, leading to a deeper exploration of the overall purpose that drives this interaction. The conversation delves into concepts like active inference and predictive processing to address the role of minimizing prediction error and reducing variational free energy in shaping behavior.
Intermediate Level Processing and Action Perception Dependence
The episode explores the concept of intermediate level processing in perception, emphasizing how individuals interact with their environment at specific hierarchical levels. It discusses how actions are directed towards entities like glasses and bottles rather than individual particles or complete planetary structures. The narrative delves into the flexibility of perception based on the circumstances and habitual actions of individuals, citing examples from visual psychology experiments.
Self-Identity and Phenomenality in Conscious Experience
The dialogue navigates the intricacies of self-awareness and minimal phenomenality in conscious experiences. It contemplates the inherent striving and misalignment that underpins self-identity, suggesting that the minimal sense of self is rooted in continuous adjustments to achieve alignment. The conversation touches upon different philosophical perspectives on consciousness, reflection, and the essential elements affecting individual perception and behavior.
There is no better person to outline the fundamental philosophical implications of the Free Energy Principle than today’s guest: Kathryn Nave. Tune in to hear about Kathryn’s new book on active inference, as well as her conceptions of agency, the self, interiority, exteriority and much more. She and Darius also discuss visual phenomenology and why percepts can be ultimately described as intermediary.
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