Category: Biology of Information

• Humanity needs a fundamental shift—“a very different civilisation”

  I choose to quote some sentences of the BMJ opinion article Osler’s valediction: how might physicians contribute to the effort to postpone human extinction?This article is written to physicians, but extrapolation to other professions is left to the reader. Historically, physicians have focused on individual patients. The time has come to expand the scope of…

  walterstiers

  2024-03-10

  #sense-making, #Sensemaking, #stakeholder economy, #Wicked, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas, Social-Technical, Sustainability, Uncategorized

  #DecisionIntelligence, #ProblemSolvingMind, #StakeholderEconomy, #TheInformationLens, #Wicked, empathy, environment, health, healthcare, humanity

• Bayesian model: prior–cost

  Sohna and Jazayeri discuss in “Validating model-based Bayesian integration using prior–cost metamers” the two competing views on how humans make decisions under uncertainty. Bayesian decision theory (BDT) posits that humans optimize their behavior by establishing and integrating internal models of past sensory experiences (priors) and decision outcomes (cost functions). An alternative hypothesis posits that decisions…

  walterstiers

  2024-02-02

  #Sensemaking, #Wicked, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Complexity, Decision Intelligence, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #DecisionIntelligence, #EconomicBehavior, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens, #Wicked

• Representation of priors and decisions

  The PLOS article by Marshall, Ruesseler, Hunt, O’Reilly “representation of priors and decisions in the human parietal cortex” discusses how both humans and animals actively sample the environment using their sensory organs, far from being passive recipients of sensory information. In rodents, active sampling processes include whisking and sniffing; in primates, the most important and…

  walterstiers

  2024-02-02

  #Sensemaking, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Complexity, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #Neuroscience, #TheInformationLens, #Wicked, articles, memory, philosophy, Science

• Dynamic task-belief is an integral part of decision-making

  Natural decisions involve two seemingly separable processes: inferring the relevant task (task-belief) and performing the believed-relevant task. The assumed separability has led to the traditional practice of studying task-switching and perceptual decision-making individually. In this study, “Dynamic task-belief is an integral part of decision-making”, Xue, Kramer and Cohen used a novel paradigm to manipulate and…

  walterstiers

  2024-02-02

  #sense-making, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology

  #DecisionIntelligence, #Neuroscience, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens, aging, health, psychology, self-awareness

• Penguin Update 12/2023

  The Leif Penguinson article I wrote a while ago refers to an article in Nature, which got updated. Of course, you always can have your regular “Can you spot the penguin?” when you follow the Nature Briefings

  walterstiers

  2023-12-30

  Biology of Information

  #DecisionIntelligence, #TheInformationLens

• The Emerging Science of Interacting Minds

  For over a century, psychology has focused on uncovering mental processes of a single individual. However, humans rarely navigate the world in isolation.The most important determinants of successful development, mental health, and our individual traits and preferences arise from interacting with other individuals. Social interaction underpins who we are, how we think, and how we…

  walterstiers

  2023-12-21

  #sense-making, Biology of Information, Complexity, Information Technology, Neurobiology/psychology, Science, Social-Technical

  #HumanAI, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• The Quark & the Jaguar

  In 1994, SFI co-founder Murray Gell-Mann published his only book, The Quark & the Jaguar.  Now available in electronic formats through the SFI Press, the book examines the laws of physics and the complexity of the natural world through Gell-Mann’s uniquely personal and unifying vision.  “The world of the quark has everything to do / with…

  walterstiers

  2023-12-21

  Biology of Information, Complexity, Science

  #TheInformationLens

• An New Law Needed?

  On the roles of function and selection in evolving systems - by Michael L. Wong, et al. (2023) Systems of many interacting agents display an increase in diversity, distribution, and/or patterned behavior when numerous configurations of the system are subject to selective pressure. The universe is replete with complex evolving systems, but the existing macroscopic physical laws…

  walterstiers

  2023-12-18

  #sense-making, #Wicked, Biology of Information, Complexity, Decision Intelligence, Information Technology, Life Ideas, Science

  #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #TheInformationLens

• Reactive declined, Proactive selective. How human aggression evolved.

  The feature review in TICS “Evolutionary and neuroendocrine foundations of human aggression” by Amar Sarkar, and Richard Wrangham describes a human behavioural paradox: they are peaceful in many circumstances, but they are also violent and kill conspecifics at high rates. The review describes a social evolutionary theory to resolve this paradox. The theory interprets human…

  walterstiers

  2023-12-12

  #Wicked, Biology of Information, Complexity, Life Ideas, Social-Technical

  #Wicked

• There is hope (emoji) &(biodiversity)

  The open access article ” Biodiversity communication in the digital era through the Emoji tree of life” might be a candidate for the (Ig)Noble. At least, it expresses the hope for better communication, and highlights: Emojis enable direct expressions of ideas and emotions in digital communication, also contributing to discussions on biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, the…

  walterstiers

  2023-12-11

  Biology of Information, Life Ideas, Social-Technical

  #TheInformationLens

• Generating meaning – AI²: predicting wor(l)ds

  I would like to quote some of the great insights and statements from the opinion by G. Pezzulo, T. Parr, P. Cisek, A Clark, and K. Friston published in TICS: “Generating meaning: active inference and the scope and limits of passive AI“. Does ChatGPT ‘understand‘ what it talks about in the way we do, or…

  walterstiers

  2023-11-27

  #sense-making, Active Inference, AI, Biology of Information, Complexity, Information Technology, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #HumanAI, #TheInformationLens

• Interoception and Active Inference for mental health

  Interoception refers to the process by which the nervous system senses and integrates signals originating from within the body, providing a momentary mapping of the body’s internal landscape and its relationship to the outside world. Active inference is based on the premise that afferent sensory input to the brain is constantly shaped and modified by…

  walterstiers

  2023-11-17

  #Sensemaking, #Wicked, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Complexity, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #HumanAI, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens, #Wicked

• Human society is currently undergoing a socio-cultural ETI

  An evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI) occurs when a previously independent organism becomes a lower level unit within a higher hierarchical level (for example, cells in an organism, ants in a colony). Based on archaeological and historical accounts from the last 12000 years, this article “Human societal development: is it an evolutionary transition in individuality?”…

  walterstiers

  2023-11-16

  #Sensemaking, #stakeholder economy, Biology of Information, Complexity, Life Ideas, Science

  #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #StakeholderEconomy

• Adult play – favoring collective decision making

  Adult play and the evolution of tolerant and cooperative societies Play is generally considered an immature affair. However, adult play is present in several mammal species living in complex social systems. This article considers the hypothesis that adult social play is favored by natural selection in those species characterized by high level of social tolerance…

  walterstiers

  2023-11-07

  #stakeholder economy, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Innovation Games, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Social-Technical

  #DecisionIntelligence, #EconomicBehavior, #StakeholderEconomy

• EXplore-versus-EXploit problems

  Trade-offs between producing costly movements for gathering information (‘explore’) and using previously acquired information to achieve a goal (‘exploit’) arise in a wide variety of problems, including foraging, reinforcement learning and sensorimotor control. Determining the optimal balance between exploration and exploitation is computationally intractable, necessitating heuristic solutions. In “Mode switching in organisms for solving explore-versus-exploit…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-31

  #Sensemaking, #Wicked, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Information Technology, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #DecisionIntelligence, #EconomicBehavior, #emergence, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• Conceptual Bootstrapping (human cognition)

  To tackle a hard problem, it is often wise to reuse and recombine existing knowledge. Such an ability to bootstrap enables us to grow rich mental concepts despite limited cognitive resources. This article presents a computational model of conceptual bootstrapping. This model uses a dynamic conceptual repertoire that can cache and later reuse elements of…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-31

  #Sensemaking, #Wicked, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Information Technology, Neurobiology/psychology

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #HumanAI, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• How adults understand what young children say

  When babies first begin to talk, their vocabulary is very limited. Often one of the first sounds they generate is “da,” which may refer to dad, a dog, a dot, or nothing at all. How does an adult listener make sense of this limited verbal repertoire? A new study “How adults understand what young children…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-30

  #Sensemaking, Biology of Information, Complexity, Creative Thinking, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• Puzzled …? – Consider the Bayesian brain hypothesis!

  Dysfunctional breathing disorder(s) (DBD) is an umbrella term for a set of poorly distinguishable clinical conditions including the most emblematic and anciently known hyperventilation syndrome. DBD affects in a variable proportion (between 5 and 35%) both adults and children, with a highly negative impact on health-related quality of life. DBD is consensually considered as a…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-30

  #Sensemaking, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #ActiveInference, #HumanAI, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• Bayesian models of perception and action (free e-book)

  Bayesian models of perception and action An introduction By Wei Ji Ma, Konrad Kording, and Daniel Goldreich An accessible introduction to constructing and interpreting Bayesian models of perceptual decision-making and action. Many forms of perception and action can be mathematically modeled as probabilistic — or Bayesian — inference, a method used to draw conclusions from…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-09

  Active Inference, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas

  #ActiveInference, #DecisionIntelligence, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens

• A touch of intellectual humility

  Being open to the limitations of their knowledge can help researchers tofoster interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations. Intellectual humility involves “the owning of one’s cognitive limitations, a healthy recognition of one’s intellectual debts to others, and low concern for intellectual domination and certain kinds of social status”. That translates to recognizing the limitations of one’s beliefs…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-04

  #sense-making, Biology of Information, Decision Intelligence, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Social-Technical

  #DecisionIntelligence, #TheInformationLens

• a call for transformative, inclusive, and integrative approaches for learning and relearning in the Anthropocene

  “The students will have an understanding and empathy that they will hold in their minds and hearts due to the spiritual and cultural teachings they are learning through the land. They will have a new lens.” Joy Joseph-McCullough, Squamish Nation Fuelled by the intersecting challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and profound social, economic,…

  walterstiers

  2023-10-03

  Biology of Information, Life Ideas, Social-Technical

  #EconomicBehavior, #TheInformationLens

• Evolution of cognitive biases

  Peter S. Park published a very interesting research on decisions and inference: “The evolution of cognitive biases in human learning”. Some text snippets I like to share: Cognitive biases like underinference, the hard-easy effect, and recurrently non-monotonic confidence are evolutionarily puzzling when viewed as persistent flaws in how people learn from environmental feedback. To explain…

  walterstiers

  2023-09-04

  #sense-making, #Sensemaking, Active Inference, Biology of Information, Complexity, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Social-Technical

  #DecisionIntelligence, #TheInformationLens

• TAP – The Adjecent Possible

  From the astonishing evolutionary advances of the Cambrian explosion to our present-day computing revolution, the trend of dramatic growth after periods of stability can be explained through the theory of the “adjacent possible,” says theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman. Tracing the arc of human history through the tools and technologies we’ve invented, he explains the impact…

  walterstiers

  2023-08-29

  #Sensemaking, Biology of Information, Complexity, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Science, Social-Technical, Sustainability

  #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #TheInformationLens

• The computational power of the human brain

  Peter J. Gebicke-Haerter published a great review article with this title. I selected some snippets and the key conclusion: At the end of the 20th century, analog systems in computer science have been widely replaced by digital systems due to their higher computing power. Nevertheless, the question keeps being intriguing until now: is the brain…

  walterstiers

  2023-08-28

  Biology of Information, Complexity, Information Technology, Life Ideas, Neurobiology/psychology, Science

  #DecisionIntelligence, #emergence, #ProblemSolvingMind, #TheInformationLens