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Karl Friston: Life, Consciousness, and the Meta-Hard Problem
Episode 57

Karl Friston: Life, Consciousness, and the Meta-Hard Problem

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/2v7LBABwZKA Karl Friston is a British neuroscientist at University College London and an authority on the free energy principle and predictive coding theory. Patreon for conversations on Theories of Everything, Consciousness, Free Will, and God: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Help support conversations like this via PayPal: https://bit.ly/2EOR0M4 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802 Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44 Discord Invite Code (as of Mar 04 2021): dmGgQ2dRzS Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything LINKS MENTIONED: Iain McGilchrist's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4 Donald Hoffman's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmieNQH7Q4w Anil Seth's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hUEqXhDbVs Stuart Hameroff's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLo0Zwe579g Machine Learning Street Talk's interview with Karl Friston (not mentioned but an informative watch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkR24ieh5Ow TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:45 Balancing work and life with an h-index of 200+ 00:04:33 Daily routine 00:05:55 How to choose which problems to work on? 00:10:13 Defining "deflationary" and "self-evidencing" 00:14:33 Equilibrium vs non-equilibrium steady state 00:20:52 Why is it called the Free Energy Principle? 00:27:20 What is the Free Energy Principle? (two answers) 00:41:15 Is causation and time required for the FEP? 00:46:03 FEP incomplete because it doesn't incorporate relativity? 00:57:21 Schrödinger, entropy, gradient flow, and life 00:59:01 Why is the Free Energy Principle infamous for being esoteric? 01:01:00 Is FEP a TOE? A theory of everything? 01:03:20 Do atoms have "beliefs" in a Bayesian sense? 01:04:54 List of different fields FEP has implications for (physics, biology, AI, etc.) 01:17:47 On Occam's Razor and Artificial Intelligence 01:25:38 Newcomb's paradox 01:29:05 FEP - a Law of Nature or a different way of compressing? 01:36:50 Jordan Peterson's "order and chaos" and the FEP 01:50:51 Using brain structure to infer about the world 02:07:12 On hierarchies and modelling different "things" (tools don't behave like apples) 02:13:59 The importance of "shared narratives" 02:18:37 Religion as aiding "shared narratives" 02:22:43 Politics needs 50 / 50 splits on issues 02:25:53 The existence of free will and definition of it 02:28:43 Self fulfilling prophecies 02:31:37 Schizophrenia, Curt, and Karl 02:45:48 "You are your own existence proof." 02:48:03 Can you think yourself into non-existence? 02:51:33 Definition of generative model 02:54:06 Donald Hoffman's consciousness model 02:54:34 Quantum consciousness and Penrose's Orchestrated OR 02:59:41 What does FEP say about consciousness? 03:09:48 The meta-Hard Problem of Consciousness 03:15:22 Anna Lukomsky: Idealism vs Physicalism 03:28:13 Joanne Dong: Explain the meaning of life via the FEP 03:34:23 Monotheism vs Polytheism in terms of FEP and psychology 03:38:50 Faraz Honarvar: Do our actions matter to the world? 03:47:20 Final words on Schizophrenia and existential anxiety from studying different metaphysics * * * Subscribe if you want more conversations on Theories of Everything, Consciousness, Free Will, God, and the mathematics / physics of each. * * * I just finished (April 2021) a documentary called Better Left Unsaid http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com on the topic of "when does the left go too far?" Visit that site if you'd like to watch it.

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal · Theories of Everything

April 26, 20213h 59m

Show Notes

Karl Friston explains the Free Energy Principle and tackles the meta-hard problem of consciousness They explore how the principle relates to physics, biology, AI, religion, and free will.

- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:02:45 - Balancing work and life
- 00:04:33 - Daily routine
- 00:05:55 - Choosing problems
- 00:10:13 - Defining deflationary/self‑evidencing
- 00:14:33 - Equilibrium vs non‑equilibrium
- 00:20:52 - Why called Free Energy Principle?
- 00:27:20 - What is the FEP? (two answers)
- 00:41:15 - Causation, time and FEP
- 00:46:03 - Relativity and FEP
- 00:57:21 - Schrödinger, entropy, gradient flow, life
- 00:59:01 - FEP esoteric reputation
- 01:01:00 - Is FEP a Theory of Everything?
- 01:03:20 - Do atoms have beliefs?
- 01:04:54 - Fields impacted by FEP
- 01:17:47 - Occam's Razor and AI
- 01:25:38 - Newcomb's paradox
- 01:29:05 - FEP as law or compression
- 01:36:50 - Jordan Peterson, order and chaos
- 01:50:51 - Brain structure inference
- 02:07:12 - Hierarchies and modeling
- 02:13:59 - Shared narratives importance
- 02:18:37 - Religion and narratives
- 02:22:43 - Politics 50/50 splits
- 02:25:53 - Free will definition
- 02:28:43 - Self‑fulfilling prophecies
- 02:31:37 - Schizophrenia, Curt, Karl
- 02:45:48 - Existence proof quote
- 02:48:03 - Thinking into non‑existence
- 02:51:33 - Generative model definition
- 02:54:06 - Donald Hoffman's consciousness model
- 02:54:34 - Quantum consciousness & OR
- 02:59:41 - FEP and consciousness
- 03:09:48 - Meta‑Hard Problem of Consciousness
- 03:15:22 - Idealism vs Physicalism
- 03:28:13 - Meaning of life via FEP
- 03:34:23 - Monotheism vs Polytheism and FEP
- 03:38:50 - Do our actions matter?
- 03:47:20 - Final words on schizophrenia

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- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e
- Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44
- Discord: invite code dmGgQ2dRzS
- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything

RESOURCES:

- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/2v7LBABwZKA
- Iain McGilchrist's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4
- Donald Hoffman's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmieNQH7Q4w
- Anil Seth's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hUEqXhDbVs
- Stuart Hameroff's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLo0Zwe579g
- Machine Learning Street Talk's interview with Karl Friston (not mentioned but an informative watch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkR24ieh5Ow
- http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science.

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