Head to head
Free Energy Principle vs Sam Harris
Friston’s free-energy principle and active inference and S. Harris’s Mystery of Consciousness, compared field by field from their entries in the Atlas.
At a glance
- Free Energy Principle belongs to the Materialism family in Kuhn's Landscape of Consciousness, Sam Harris to Challenge.
- They give the same kind of answer on life after death and meaning and purpose.
- On AI consciousness, Free Energy Principle says “Yes” and Sam Harris says “No”.
- On mind uploading, Free Energy Principle says “Yes” and Sam Harris says “No”.
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The claim
In brief
Free Energy PrincipleThis theory conceptualizes consciousness as a natural process arising from the minimization of 'free energy,' which is the difference between an organism's internal model (perceptual expectations) and real-time sensory inputs. Consciousness, therefore, functions as the evolved mechanism for simulating scenarios of the world and reducing prediction error to ensure survival and maintain homeostasis.
Sam HarrisThis perspective, offered as a challenge rather than a prescriptive theory, frames consciousness as an unbridgeable mystery that cannot be solved by purely physical means. Harris argues that physical descriptions are 'mute' regarding subjective experience; the only thing attesting to sentience is consciousness itself, creating a fundamental explanatory gap. He remains pessimistic that science can dispel this mystery.
What consciousness is
Free Energy PrincipleConsciousness is identified as a natural process of inference, specifically the internal emergent model that monitors and minimizes the free energy principle (surprise), thereby optimizing the representational capacities of physical/brain systems.
Sam HarrisConsciousness is identified as subjectivity or sentience, which is fundamentally mysterious and unexplainable by purely physical processes.
Big questions
Can AI be conscious?Differ
Free Energy PrincipleYesAs a strong materialist theory, if consciousness is fully explained by computational processes of inference and representation minimization, then non-biological systems capable of executing these processes must eventually attain consciousness in principle.
Sam HarrisNoIf consciousness is irreducible subjectivity missing from physical descriptions, then advanced computation (AI, which is purely physical complexity) will fail to generate genuine sentience.
Does consciousness survive death?Both agree
Free Energy PrincipleNoConsciousness is an emergent natural process tied directly to the functional dynamics and physical substrate of the biological brain; thus, it cannot survive bodily decay.
Sam HarrisNoAs a naturalist, Harris implicitly aligns with the view that consciousness is tied to the physical organism, meaning its termination results in permanent non-existence, despite the mystery of its nature while alive.
Free Energy PrincipleYesSince consciousness is understood as an emergent, formalized process of inference optimization, perfect duplication of the brain's information processing and representational dynamics in a non-biological medium should be sufficient for the continuation of the mental self.
Sam HarrisNoIf consciousness cannot be explained by purely physical processes, then duplication or uploading of the physical substrate will fail to capture or recreate the essential subjective self.
Does it give life meaning?Both agree
Free Energy PrincipleHumanistic onlyThe foundational imperative of the conscious process is survival (minimizing surprise/maintaining homeostasis). The theory does not rationalize ultimate cosmic meaning or purpose, aligning with general materialist perspectives.
Sam HarrisHumanistic onlyThe mystery does not imply cosmic purpose, but Harris advocates finding personal truths through introspection, aligning with self-discovered (naturalized) spirituality and meaning.
Nature of mind
Ontology
Free Energy PrinciplePhysicalism; often referred to as Markovian Monism, which views mind/matter distinction as dialectical rather than ontological.
Sam HarrisSkeptical/Mysterianism (Justified: The view asserts the philosophical intractability and unbridgeable nature of the mind-body problem, aligning with core tenets of mysterianism, though without adopting a specific alternative ontology.)
Mind and body
Free Energy PrincipleMonistic/Identity. The theory proposes that consciousness is the natural outcome of the physical/brain system's self-organizing processes, dissolving familiar dialectics between mind and matter.
Sam HarrisUnbridgeable Gap / Non-reductive Correlation (Justified: Harris asserts that while physical processes correlate with consciousness, no analysis of these processes can logically yield a picture of consciousness, leaving an unbridgeable gap.)
Fundamental or emergent
Free Energy PrincipleEmergent
Sam HarrisMystery (Justified: Harris declines to fully endorse emergence, stating that while consciousness may be the lawful product of unconscious processing, he does not find that sentence meaningful in explaining sentience.)
Qualia
Free Energy PrincipleThe theory is highly deflationary regarding the Hard Problem, treating consciousness as a process to be understood rather than a 'thing' whose qualitative attributes need definition. Qualia, if acknowledged, would be epiphenomena or aspects of the internal generative model required for inference.
Sam HarrisQualia (what it is 'like something' to be) are the phenomenon that physical events are 'mute' about, thus creating the unbridgeable mystery.
How it works
Mechanism
Free Energy PrincipleThe Free-Energy Principle (FEP), which states that all self-organizing systems must minimize free energy (or 'surprise'), driving action and perception through active inference.
Sam HarrisNone (Justified: The core premise is the failure of all current and foreseeable physical/mechanistic principles to explain subjectivity.)
Where it is
Free Energy PrincipleLocalized in the physical brain system; cortical responses are seen as the brain’s attempt to minimize free energy.
Sam HarrisUnknown/Mysterious (Justified: While consciousness correlates with the brain, the theory explicitly rejects confining the explanation of consciousness to physical location or distribution because the physical world yields no evidence of consciousness.)
What it does
Free Energy PrincipleConsciousness serves an adaptive and functional role as the evolved mechanism for simulating scenarios, monitoring, and minimizing free energy to promote survival (homeostasis) and navigate the world.
Sam HarrisUnknown/Irreducible (Justified: Causal power is not explained by unconscious complexity. The presence of sentience is an ultimate mystery rather than a functional adaptation that can be described reductively.)
Evidence and criticism
Testability
Free Energy PrincipleConceptually and empirically linked to testable models (e.g., in neurobiology and psychology) through its reliance on formalizing representational capacities of physical systems.
Sam HarrisConceptually Untestable (Justified: If the gap is unbridgeable, as Harris claims, the mystery cannot be dispelled by empirical science as currently practiced.)
Tests so far
Free Energy PrincipleThe principles of FEP form the basis for models utilized in empirical work concerning altered states (e.g., the Entropic Brain Hypothesis under psychedelics) and related theories of perception and cognition.
Sam HarrisNone (Justified: The framework is a diagnosis of science's failure to address the hard problem and does not propose empirical tests for the mystery itself.)
Criticisms
Free Energy PrincipleCriticized for being highly deflationary and difficult to reconcile with the first-person reality of phenomenal experience (the Hard Problem), viewing consciousness merely as a mathematical process or 'natural outcome.' Friston finds engaging with the philosophical premise of consciousness as a 'thing' difficult.
Sam HarrisIt functions primarily as a critique against reductionism and scientific optimism regarding consciousness, classifying the issue as an ultimate mystery, which reductionists reject as pessimism (mysterianism).
Sources
Key sources
Free Energy Principle
- A theory of cortical responses, K. Friston (2005)
- Active interference: a process theory, K. Friston et al (2017)
- The Mathematics of Mind-Time, K. Friston (2017)
Sam Harris
- The mystery of consciousness (Part I & II), Sam Harris (2011)
- Explorations in Consciousness: Death Psychedelics and Mystical Experience (2023)