Dear All,
This is a kind reminder:
*********************************************
The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk by:
Venue:
C323
(QS Vienna) and Zoom:
https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/99248369830?pwd=D0ZrXbE15r2JI9IaTjHAAIvAaF4VWY.1
Meeting ID: 992 4836 9830
Passcode: 167595
Chair: József
Fiser
Title: Information seeking in the “Adjacent possible”
Abstract: We typically hold human information-seeking behaviour to the normative standard of expected information maximisation. Yet humans align with this norm
only in narrow, overtrained settings (and often only if you squint). I highlight a series of projects that explore information seeking in less constrained settings, where human choices are systematically *anti-correlated* with global information maximisation
norms. To make sense of this disconnect, I highlight how the value of information depends on what one can make of it. I’ll argue this transforms the objective of human information-seeking to that of maximising mobility within the “adjacent possible” (Kauffman,
1996)—the space of possibilities a learner can conceive of, given what they currently believe and their inferential limitations. Humans often select actions that fork the predictions of a current hypothesis and “nearby” alternatives, optimising the signal-to-noise
ratio with respect to this contrast, to limit the chance of making inferential or perceptual errors. I suggest this pattern is mis-diagnosed as confirmation-biased, inefficient testing from a “god’s eye” view, but rather reflects an effective long-run strategy
(in combination with model-free heuristics) for active learning in open-ended possibility spaces.
*Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna
must reply here please
to get access to the lecture hall.
Let
Jozsef know, please, if you would like to schedule a meeting with the speaker.
Best,
Reka
|
|
Györgyné Finta (Réka) Department of Cognitive Science CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
|
