Jeff Hawkins observes that brains are constantly predicting the future.
That’s quite consistent with the idea of brains acting as expected utility maximisers.
The brain predicts the future in order to detect if its model of the world needs updating when new sensory data arrives. If the data matches the model—no problem. If the data and the model conflict then the model needs updating.
In the expected utility framework, the brain has to predict the future anyway in order to judge the expected consequences of its actions. All it does is keep the results around for long enough to see if things go as it expected.
Jeff Hawkins observes that brains are constantly predicting the future.
That’s quite consistent with the idea of brains acting as expected utility maximisers.
The brain predicts the future in order to detect if its model of the world needs updating when new sensory data arrives. If the data matches the model—no problem. If the data and the model conflict then the model needs updating.
In the expected utility framework, the brain has to predict the future anyway in order to judge the expected consequences of its actions. All it does is keep the results around for long enough to see if things go as it expected.