December 1, 2022
Much published academically, University of Sussex philosophy professor Clark writes for a general audience in presenting this new theory of how the brain interacts with the world. He draws on recent work in neuroscience and psychology to argue that we don't passively perceive reality but actively shape or predict it as we mediate our experience of both our bodies and the world. This new view has especially important implications for those facing chronic pain or mental health challenges.
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March 13, 2023
“Human brains are prediction machines,” contends Clark (Surfing Uncertainty), a cognitive philosophy professor at the University of Sussex, in this eye-opening study. Pushing back against the idea that the brain passively processes information from the senses, Clark argues that the organ is instead constantly predicting external reality based on previous experiences and adjusting mental impressions as new information arises. He highlights the surprising scientific research that backs up this claim, noting a 2001 study that demonstrated the power of suggestion on perception by asking participants to report if they heard the song “White Christmas” buried in a white noise recording; one-third said they did, despite the tune not featuring in the noise. Predictive processing, Clark suggests, can contribute to depression (through failure of the brain to alter negative expectations even when faced with “evidence of positive outcomes”) and chronic pain (through false predictions that “innocent” bodily signals indicate physiological damage). This revelation opens new vistas for treatment, and Clark describes how cognitive reframing can teach patients to correct “aberrant predictions” and reinterpret pain. The mind-bending research upends conventional wisdom about how humans interact with the world around them, and the lucid prose ensures lay readers won’t get lost. This head trip delivers.
Starred review from March 15, 2023
The role of expectations in how we see the world. Drawing on insights from psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, Clark, a professor of cognitive philosophy, examines how our understanding of the world is fundamentally informed by cognitive forecasting. Far from being mere passive receivers of some objective reality, we are, it seems, always actively involved in imagining what reality is likely to be and constantly responding to so-called "prediction errors" as we resolve differences between our expectations and incoming sense data. In this remarkable book, the author clearly and memorably sets forth the profound implications of such a theory. As Clark explains, what we take to be real--including our beliefs about who we are--is necessarily a fluid and idiosyncratic construct, and it depends on an ongoing set of negotiations between what we anticipate based on precedent and what our senses imply in the unfolding present. None of us simply records a stable set of facts from the world around us; in fact, we create a version of that world deeply informed by personal history. Among the practical applications for Clark's insights are treatments for chronic pain that target patients' imagination of their suffering and the training of police officers to recognize racial bias in stressful encounters. Overall, the author vividly demonstrates that "a better appreciation of the power of prediction could improve the way we think about our own medical symptoms and suggest new ways of understanding mental health, mental illness, and neurodiversity." Along the way, Clark offers engaging and insightful commentary on tangential matters such as how ceremonial practices can contribute to feelings of well-being and how digital technologies have boosted our predictive capacities and effectively become extensions of our minds. The author defines and explains complex ideas with admirable clarity, and black-and-white illustrations underscore the concrete importance of specific theoretical claims. A startling, profoundly illuminating account of our mind's predictive abilities.
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