University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Free-energy minimization and the dark-room problem

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 08:08 authored by Friston Karl, Chris ThorntonChris Thornton, Clark Andy
Recent years have seen the emergence of an important new fundamental theory of brain function. This theory brings information-theoretic, Bayesian, neuroscientific, and machine learning approaches into a single framework whose overarching principle is the minimization of surprise (or, equivalently, the maximization of expectation). The most comprehensive such treatment is the 'free energy minimization' formulation due to Karl Friston (see e.g. Friston and Stephan (2007), Friston (2010) see also Thornton (2010), Fiorillo (2010) A recurrent puzzle raised by critics of these models is that biological systems do not seem to avoid surprises. We do not simply seek a dark, unchanging chamber and stay there. This is the 'Dark Room Problem'. Here, we describe the problem and further unpack the issues to which it speaks. Using the same format as the prologue of Eddington's Space, Time and Gravitation (Eddington 1920) we present our discussion as a conversation between:

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN

1664-1078

Publisher

Frontiers Research Foundation

Volume

3

Page range

130

Department affiliated with

  • Informatics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-05-08

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC