Also, what’s up with the predictive circuits which “predict” our next actions. If they’re fully re-wired to run only on reinforcement signals, and not correct predictions, then can they really be affected by our self-model? Maybe this works because the bottom-up information comes from reinforcement signals, while the top-down information comes from our higher-level self-model.
Do you follow Friston’s FEP? He posits that all we have is the internal model. And we only know the outside world thru the proxy of what he calls our “Markov blankets.” From that frame, I consider that an action (which has often been rehearsed) can be seen as a field equation.
Happy to go into further detail, but briefly, the result of the equation is then Bayesianly applied to the priors (beliefs) that subjugated the initial act.
Re: Predictive Coding/FEP if a simulation or a thought construct is unfalsifiable, then the brain essentially ruminates on it trying to verify it by completing the (Markov) chain of thought. This causes entrenchment and leads to undue weight, thus allowing these unprovable concepts to often exceed the weight of other constructs with proper signaling.
If this is so, then please consider that the brain will begin “hyper-evaluation” (anxiety), reflecting upon many potential scenarios often times quite generally, in an attempt to resolve the perceived danger. This is likely compounded for those labelled as highly “creative” or “intelligent” (if we consider rate-of-simulation to be considered in the evaluation of either label.
If it’s true that otherwise “smart” and/or highly creative people may come to believe seemingly unbelievable or even irrational things.