How the brain constructs reality | Karl Friston on consciousness and neuroscience

Karl Friston discusses the neuroscience behind consciousness, hallucinations, dreams, and schizophrenia. If our vision is just a controlled hallucination, what does ultimate reality look like? With a free trial, you can watch Karl debate the link between our senses and reality NOW at https://iai.tv/video/down-the-rabbit-... We tend to think of the mind as something that passively perceives an objective world. But perception is active, inferential, and deeply shaped by uncertainty. In this interview with the Institute of Art and Ideas, Karl Friston argues that the brain is not a mirror of reality but a prediction machine, constantly constructing the world it experiences. Drawing on the Free Energy Principle, he explains how perception, action, and consciousness emerge from the same underlying imperative: minimising surprise. Because of prediction, embodied action, and hierarchical inference, reality itself turns out to be something we actively build rather than simply observe. #neuroscience #science #psychology Karl Friston is a neuroscientist and theoretical neurobiologist best known for developing the Free Energy Principle, a unifying framework for understanding brain function, perception, and action. He is Professor of Imaging Neuroscience at University College London and a leading figure in computational psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience, and the philosophy of mind. The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics. Subscribe today! https://iai.tv/subscribe?utm_source=Y... 00:00 Vision is a prediction made by the brain 00:36 Is our conscious experience of the world a prediction generated by the brain? 02:30 What happens after you construct a prediction and get sensory input? 03:24 Why is the brain doing it this way around? 04:55 Do we ever really access reality outside of our heads? 06:40 Is perception a controlled hallucination? 08:52 How should we think about conscious experience? 12:31 Can we link the Free Energy Principle with perception? 15:57 What is the range of these self-organising systems? 20:42 How does the Free Energy Principle accommodate imagination? 26:30 Does the Free Energy Principle accommodate for known illusions? 28:31 How can the Free Energy Principle be applied to mental illness? For debates and talks: https://iai.tv For articles: https://iai.tv/articles For courses: https://iai.tv/iai-academy/courses