perception

My previous encounters with reality contribute to my internal mental predictions about the world that, in turn, help to shape my actual future experiences. So, seeing the “real world” (or hearing sounds, or feeling pain, or …) involves a personal, ideosyncratic filter/kaleidoscope. This prediction-based theory of mind is quite hopeful. More than a facile version of “positive thinking,” it suggests a realistic optimism where well-tuned expectations can actively help to bring about desired states and experiences.

Our speaker, Dr. Andy Clark, is Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at England’s University of Sussex. He will present ideas from — and answer questions about — his new book, The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality.