Active Inference Insights

Amygdala lovers unite: this one is for you. This week, Darius and neuroscientist Ronald Sladky explore the wonderful and wacky world of subcortical structures, with a special focus on the mysterious, infamous amygdala. This conversation also details developments in brain imaging, and attempts to bring clarity to that age-old active inference question: what are priors?

This week’s Active Inference Insights is a rollercoaster of all things cognitive, brought to you by Darius and philosopher / neurophenomenologist Julian Kiverstein. Over three hours you can expect to learn about non-representational cognition, affordances, the irreducibility of phenomena, self-modelling, the extended mind, consciousness and so much more.

Mathematician Lance Da Costa delves into world and self models in active inference, stochastic differential equations, solenoidal flows in living systems, recognition density, meditation attention, prior beliefs, and cutting-edge vision technology in this insightful podcast.

This week, Darius is joined by a truly legendary figure in the world of neuropsychology: Chris Frith. In this conversation, Chris takes us through his seminal oeuvre , expounding the key insights he has made in the fields of social cognition, schizophrenia, consciousness, agency and selfhood.

Delving into mortal computation and cybernetics, the podcast explores biomimetic intelligence and the benefits of in-memory computing for neural simulations. It discusses minimizing variational free energy in biological and artificial systems, as well as the concept of cybernetic variety in problem-solving. The episode also touches on active inference, Bayesian surprise, and the limitations of current robotics technology in achieving adaptive intelligence.

Vicente Raja and Jeff Beck explore the controversy surrounding 'The Markov Blanket Trick' paper. They discuss the concept of Markov Blankets and its implications, the debate on perception, Bayesian inference and the Free Energy Principle, criticism and clarity in the concept of the Markov Blanket, perspectives on inference in psychology and neuroscience, the Free Energy Principle and self organization, Jeremy England's work on complex formations, and the importance of instrumentalism and realism in science.

In this podcast, Adam Safron discusses psychedelics, evolution, extended minds, and the role of the body in cognitive systems. They explore the origins of psychedelic experiences, the intersection of psychedelics and active inference, and the future of psychedelic therapy. The conversation delves into consciousness, Bayesian inference, and the impact of hallucinations on beliefs.

In this captivating discussion, Marilyn Stendera, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Wollongong, delves into the precariousness of existence and the interplay between phenomenology and enactivism. She explores concepts like autopoiesis and the significance of time in understanding cognition. The conversation highlights the tension between subjective knowledge and objectivity, as well as the dynamic relationship between self-identity and futurity. Stendera critiques Cartesian dualism through a Heideggerian lens, inviting listeners to rethink the essence of being and consciousness.

In this fourth episode of Active Inference Insights, Darius and Inês Hipólito delve into the murky waters of Markov blankets, exploring whether they are real or just an instrumental tool, how they impact on The Modularity of Mind theory, as well as the true meanings of “active” and “sensory” states. In addition to this, Inês presents a thorough account of the historical transition from computational to enactivist theories of cognition, before she and Darius try and shed light on the role of consciousness and representations in a mind that is putatively embodied, embedded, enactive and extended beyond the brain.

In this episode, John Vervaeke and Darius Parvizi-Wayne discuss relevance realization, predictive processing, and flow states. They explore the function of consciousness, implications of radical enactivism, opponent processing, affordances, and the integration of philosophical lineages into active inference theory. The conversation also touches on social baseline theory, rock climbing, dynamic mutual coupling in affordances, and the role of narrative elements in cognitive processes.