"According to the Free Energy Principle (FEP), developed by theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston and colleagues, much of what the brain does can be understood as minimizing such mismatches—a technical form of 'surprise' defined as the improbability of sensory input given an internal model. The proposal brings perception, action, learning, and decision-making under a single framework."
"Living organisms maintain themselves within tight physiological bounds. Body temperature, blood chemistry, hydration, and oxygenation, fluctuate constantly but within viable limits. If those states drift too far, the organism can no longer exist as the living system it is. Statistically, organisms occupy a highly constrained subset of possible states; states far outside that region are extremely improbable—'surprising.'"
"'Surprise' here does not mean novelty or emotional shock. It refers to the mathematical improbability of a sensory state relative to the organism's model of how the world works. Oxygen deprivation is 'surprising' not in the everyday sense of the word, but because it signals departure from the conditions required for continued existence."
The Free Energy Principle, developed by Karl Friston, explains how the brain functions by minimizing prediction errors or 'surprise'—the improbability of sensory input given an internal model. This framework unifies perception, action, learning, and decision-making under one principle: survival. Living organisms must maintain themselves within tight physiological bounds for temperature, blood chemistry, hydration, and oxygenation. States outside these viable ranges are statistically improbable and represent 'surprise' in mathematical terms. The brain cannot directly calculate sensory input probability because causes remain partly hidden. Minimizing long-term surprise enables organisms to remain viable by keeping them within the constrained subset of states necessary for continued existence.
Read at Psychology Today
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