Mark Solms - The Hidden Spring Part 8: A Predictive Hierarchy
Aug 19, 2023
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Author Mark Solms discusses the brain's predictive system, emotions connecting us to ancestors, brain's attempt to contain environmental effects, innate predictions like fear, brain as organization of predictions and errors, and emotional needs and scripts in the podcast.
Organizations benefit from automating processes while updating models for changing environments like the brain's predictive hierarchy.
Minimizing free energy reflects the primal drive to reduce uncertainty for biological survival instincts and organizational dynamics.
Emotions like fear and anger are biologically ingrained responses crucial for survival, influencing adaptive behaviors and conscious decision-making.
Deep dives
The Importance of Predictive Hierarchies in Organizational Adaptation
Organizations, like the brain's predictive hierarchy, benefit from automating predictable processes while retaining flexibility to update models for changing environments. The story of Eve Periaqueduct exemplifies the implicit modeling of surroundings to efficiently maintain core objectives even amid unforeseen challenges.
Fear as a Catalyst for Biological Survival and Behavior
In both biological survival instincts and organizational dynamics, fear plays a central role in prompting action to address potential threats. The concept of minimizing free energy, akin to unpredictability, highlights the primal drive to reduce uncertainty and maintain viability in diverse contexts.
Interconnection between Emotions and Biological Adaptation
Emotions like fear and anger serve as biologically ingrained responses to threats, reflecting deep-seated instincts crucial for survival. The interplay between emotional responses, cognitive processing, and automatic behavioral patterns underscores the intricate link between feelings, adaptive behaviors, and conscious decision-making.
Implementing Adaptive Learning and Behavioral Responses in Organizations
Strategies such as cold showers or training mirror the brain's ability to rewire itself based on external inputs, demonstrating the capacity to hack fear signals and enhance adaptability. Just as organizations evolve by updating assumptions and automating routine processes, individuals can recalibrate responses through deliberate practices and exposure to novel stimuli.
The Role of Seeking Drive in Exploring Uncertainty and Novelty
The seeking drive, resembling curiosity and exploration, emerges when primary biological needs are met, allowing engagement with uncertainty and interest in novel experiences. Analogous to organizations' forward planning during stable periods, individuals' pursuit of novelty fosters proactivity in navigating uncharted territories to reduce future uncertainties exuberance in traversing new possibilities.
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 talk about the brain's prediction system.
00:00:00.000 Introduction and Overview of the Chapter 00:03:30.388 Establishment of the Meteorology Department 00:11:59.546 The Fundamental Task: Minimizing Free Energy 00:15:43.370 Feelings: Connecting Us to Our Ancestors 00:19:36.790 Neglecting the inter-receptive and extra-receptive in cognitive science 00:22:30.002 The brain's attempt to contain environmental effects on the organism 00:31:32.675 Innate Predictions: Fear and Instinctual Behaviors 00:34:19.723 The Evolution of Responses and Predictive Model Complexification 00:42:59.118 The Brain: Ones and Zeroes, Predictions and Errors 00:54:18.834 The Brain as an Organization 00:59:57.338 Emotional Needs and Scripts
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