Mark Solms - The Hidden Spring Part 7: Free Energy
Aug 17, 2023
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Mark Solms, author of The Hidden Spring, discusses the Free Energy Principle, Homeostasis, and the neuroscience of innovation. Topics include Markov Blankets, maintaining organization against entropy, predictive models, and self-organization in nature.
Feeling is intricately connected to maintaining homeostasis, suggesting a mechanistic understanding of consciousness.
The law of effect dictates that rewarding actions and avoiding punishment are guiding principles, reducible to formal equations in science.
Deep dives
Understanding the Free Energy Principle and Self-Organizing Systems
The podcast delves into the concept of homeostasis, where deviations feel bad and returns feel good as necessary for life. Feeling is linked to maintaining homeostasis and can be reduced to mechanistic laws. Fristen's work reduced homeostasis to an equation, suggesting that consciousness can be similarly understood as a mechanistic law.
The Law of Effect and Equations in Science
The discussion covers the law of effect, stating that consistently rewarding actions are approached while punishing ones are avoided. This principle is reducible to equations, formalizing lawful relationships in science. Feelings play a vital part, guiding individuals to maintain viability and adapt to changing circumstances through learning and predicting outcomes.
The Role of Predictive Models and Precision in Learning
The podcast highlights the importance of predictive models in learning and decision-making processes. Efficiency and precision in these models link directly to reducing free energy and addressing prediction errors. Confidence in predictions impacts the degree of precision, influencing the adaptability and effectiveness of the system.
Connecting Self-Organization to Human Behavior and Biological Systems
Self-organization is crucial for maintaining boundaries and distinguishing between self and non-self. Markov blankets define systems, crucial for achieving homeostasis. The podcast draws parallels between biological and organizational self-organization, emphasizing the need to balance exploitation and exploration for adaptive survival.
It is a pleasure to welcome the author of The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness, Mark Solms.
In this episode, we share some terms like: Markov Blankets, The Free Energy Principle, Homeostasis, Entropy and more. We also look at the neuroscience of innovation.
Time Stamps
00:00:00.076 Introduction: Exploring the Free Energy Principle 00:02:48.180 Feeling as an Equation: The Reduction of Homeostasis 00:05:09.567 Reduction of Homeostasis to an Equation by Carl Friston 00:07:40.434 The Link Between Mathematics, Physics, and Feelings: Homeostasis 00:10:06.472 Living Things Resisting the Second Law of Thermodynamics 00:12:31.153 The Imperative of Maintaining Organization and Viability 00:15:08.612 Homeostasis and the Role of Predictability 00:17:41.544 Learning from Experience and Updating Predictive Models 00:20:17.696 The Free Energy Principle and Reducing Predictive Errors 00:22:33.207 Understanding Free Energy as Wasted Informational Energy 00:24:41.590 The Fundamental Law of Psychology and Psychiatry 00:34:02.646 Self-organization in Nature: Ants and Bees 00:40:03.648 The Importance of Boundaries and the Markov Blanket 00:43:30.274 Feeling as the Driving Force of Learning
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