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Hacking the Predictive Mind

Authors :
Andy Clark
Source :
Entropy, Vol 26, Iss 8, p 677 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

According to active inference, constantly running prediction engines in our brain play a large role in delivering all human experience. These predictions help deliver everything we see, hear, touch, and feel. In this paper, I pursue one apparent consequence of this increasingly well-supported view. Given the constant influence of hidden predictions on human experience, can we leverage the power of prediction in the service of human flourishing? Can we learn to hack our own predictive regimes in ways that better serve our needs and purposes? Asking this question rapidly reveals a landscape that is at once familiar and new. It is also challenging, suggesting important questions about scope and dangers while casting further doubt (as if any was needed) on old assumptions about a firm mind/body divide. I review a range of possible hacks, starting with the careful use of placebos, moving on to look at chronic pain and functional disorders, and ending with some speculations concerning the complex role of genetic influences on the predictive brain.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
10994300
Volume :
26
Issue :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Entropy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3a682263f8ac49c281fd0d2d60e8c997
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/e26080677