A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “predictive processing”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott reviews Steven Byrnes' work explaining how our perception of self and consciousness can flip between different models, similar to optical illusions, which explains phenomena like trance, hypnosis, and spiritual experiences.
Scott Alexander examines a theory proposing that depression, anxiety, and trauma are characterized by low precision of sensory evidence, leading to overreliance on negative priors.
Scott Alexander draws parallels between OpenAI's GPT-2 language model and human dreaming, exploring their similarities in process and output quality.
Scott reviews a paper proposing a computational model of mood and emotions based on predictive processing, discussing its implications for understanding mood disorders.
Scott Alexander attempts to understand and explain Karl Friston's complex 'free energy' principle in neuroscience, exploring its various interpretations and potential implications.
Scott Alexander explores the motivational system as described in 'The Hungry Brain', connecting it to dopamine, willpower, and predictive processing theory.
Scott proposes a speculative theory of depression as pathologically low confidence in neural predictions within the predictive processing framework, explaining how this could account for various depressive symptoms.
Scott Alexander examines the conflict between predictive processing theory and evolutionary psychology claims about innate knowledge, questioning how genes could directly encode complex preferences.
Scott Alexander explores the similarities between Predictive Processing and Perceptual Control Theory, arguing that PCT anticipates many aspects of PP and deserves recognition for its insights.
Scott Alexander reviews 'Surfing Uncertainty' by Andy Clark, exploring the predictive processing model of brain function and its wide-ranging explanatory power.
The post explores how neurotypical social interactions often involve indirect communication, which can be confusing for autistic individuals, and suggests that conversations may be deliberately designed to be unpredictable.