87 | Karl Friston on Brains, Predictions, and Free Energy

87 | Karl Friston on Brains, Predictions, and Free Energy

If you tell me that one of the world's leading neuroscientists has developed a theory of how the brain works that also has implications for the origin and nature of life more broadly, and uses concepts of entropy and information in a central way — well, you know I'm going to be all over that. So it's my great pleasure to present this conversation with Karl Friston, who has done exactly that. One of the most highly-cited neuroscientists now living, Friston has proposed that we understand the brain in terms of a free energy principle, according to which our brains are attempting to model the world in such a way as to minimize the amount of surprise we experience. It's a bit more complicate than that, but I think we made great headway in explicating some very profound ideas in a way that should be generally understandable.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Karl Friston received his medical degree from King's College Hospital, London. He is currently Professor at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging. Among his major contributions are statistical parametric mapping, voxel-based morphometry, and dynamical causal modeling. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, of the Academy of Medical Science, and of the Royal Society of Biology. Among his awards are the Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping, the Minerva Golden Brain Award, the Weldon Memorial Prize, the Charles Branch Award, and the Glass Brain Award for human brain mapping.


Jaksot(415)

278 | Kieran Healy on the Technology of Ranking People

278 | Kieran Healy on the Technology of Ranking People

We claim to love all of our children, friends, and students equally. But perhaps deep down you assign a ranking to them, from favorite to not-so-favorite. Ranking and quantifying people is an irresist...

10 Kesä 20241h 15min

AMA | June 2024

AMA | June 2024

Welcome to the June 2024 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreo...

3 Kesä 20243h 58min

277 | Cumrun Vafa on the Universe According to String Theory

277 | Cumrun Vafa on the Universe According to String Theory

String theory, the current leading candidate for a theory of quantum gravity as well as other particles and forces, doesn't connect directly to the world we see. It's possible that there is a large la...

27 Touko 20241h 22min

276 | Gavin Schmidt on Measuring, Predicting, and Protecting Our Climate

276 | Gavin Schmidt on Measuring, Predicting, and Protecting Our Climate

The Earth's climate keeps changing, largely due to the effects of human activity, and we haven't been doing enough to slow things down. Indeed, over the past year, global temperatures have been higher...

20 Touko 20241h 19min

275 | Solo: Quantum Fields, Particles, Forces, and Symmetries

275 | Solo: Quantum Fields, Particles, Forces, and Symmetries

Publication week! Say hello to Quanta and Fields, the second volume of the planned three-volume series The Biggest Ideas in the Universe. This volume covers quantum physics generally, but focuses espe...

13 Touko 20242h 12min

AMA | May 2024

AMA | May 2024

Welcome to the May 2024 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreon...

6 Touko 20243h 35min

274 | Gizem Gumuskaya on Building Robots from Human Cells

274 | Gizem Gumuskaya on Building Robots from Human Cells

Modern biology is advancing by leaps and bounds, not only in understanding how organisms work, but in learning how to modify them in interesting ways. One exciting frontier is the study of tiny "robot...

29 Huhti 20241h 10min

273 | Stefanos Geroulanos on the Invention of Prehistory

273 | Stefanos Geroulanos on the Invention of Prehistory

Humanity itself might be the hardest thing for scientists to study fairly and accurately. Not only do we come to the subject with certain inevitable preconceptions, but it's hard to resist the temptat...

22 Huhti 20241h 19min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
docemilia
rss-luontopodi-samuel-glassar-tutkii-luonnon-ihmeita
rss-duodecim-lehti
radio-antro
utelias-mieli
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
rss-lapsuuden-rakentajat-podcast
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
rss-sosiopodi