Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Jenann Ismael, Johns Hopkins University
A common assumption holds that perfect prediction is theoretically possible in a deterministic universe. However, I use puzzles of counterprediction and self-reference to highlight a source of unpredictability that is independent of ignorance or indeterminism. I argue that this form of unpredictability emerges for any system that represents the world from within, revealing a crack in the edifice of determinism that life and cognition actively exploit. Crucially, representational activity must be understood as an intrinsic part of the world's fabric.
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Jenann Ismael, Johns Hopkins University
A common assumption holds that perfect prediction is theoretically possible in a deterministic universe. However, I use puzzles of counterprediction and self-reference to highlight a source of unpredictability that is independent of ignorance or indeterminism. I argue that this form of unpredictability emerges for any system that represents the world from within, revealing a crack in the edifice of determinism that life and cognition actively exploit. Crucially, representational activity must be understood as an intrinsic part of the world's fabric.
Learn more, follow us on social media and check out our podcasts:
https://linktr.ee/sfiscience
