Theories of Consciousness 3/6: What (if anything) does the Free Energy Principle Teach us about Consciousness? The Inner Screen Mode (with Maxwell Ramstead)

February 17, 2024. 1 hour and 50 mins. This presentation is about whether we can learn anything about consciousness from the free energy principle (FEP). Ramstead first gently introduces the FEP to a general, nontechnical audience: The FEP says that anything with a Markov blanket will look as if it infers the statistics of other things ‘beyond’ the blanket, to which it is coupled, but from which it can be separated. He then discusses the ‘inner screen model’ of consciousness that follows directly from applying the FEP to model known human neurophysiology. The ensuing neo-Cartesian model of consciousness provides a…