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

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Mar 3, 2025

Karl Friston, a leading theoretical neuroscientist and expert in brain imaging, delves into the fascinating intersection of culture and the free energy principle. He discusses how this principle shapes decision-making and belief systems, contributing to the formation of echo chambers. Friston also connects his theories to physics, exploring relationships with quantum mechanics and general relativity. Additionally, he examines the implications of the free energy principle on understanding mortality, revealing insights about human existence and the nature of reality.

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INSIGHT

Free Energy Explains Culture

Culture can be seen as co-constructed ecological niches that reduce uncertainty through shared environments and signals.
Cultural artifacts like language, signs, and desire paths help make our world more predictable and navigable.

INSIGHT

Information Trust and Polarization

People select information sources based on inferred trustworthiness and similarity, creating echo chambers.
Stable societal polarization around 50-50 splits emerges due to mutual predictability and curiosity across groups.

INSIGHT

Narratives as Policies

A narrative is a belief about a sequence of outcomes shaped by a policy of actions.
Expected free energy evaluates actions based on information gain and value in future scenarios, forming our immediate world model.

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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!

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