The brain operates as a prediction machine: it constantly makes predictions about the causes of sensory signals and updates these predictions based on sensory input; all conscious experience (perception of world, self, free will, emotion) is a form of controlled hallucination grounded in prediction and physiological regulation of the body.

definitionpending

Speaker

Anil Seth

Evidence Quote

the idea of the brain as a prediction machine goes way back and it's really this idea that everything the brain does pretty much involves it making predictions about the causes of sensory signals...the idea is that everything that we're conscious of whether it's an experience of the world whether it's an experience of the self whether it's an experience of free will or valtion is a kind of perception...perceptual experience is a kind of controlled hallucination

Source

What Creates Consciousness? | World Science FestivalWorld Science Festival
Created: 8/12/2026, 6:02:17 PM

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