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Book review: “Active inference. The free energy principle in mind, brain, and behavior” by Thomas Parr, Giovanni Pezzulo, and Karl Friston

Lundh, Lars-Gunnar LU (2026) In Journal for Person-Oriented Research 12(1). p.63-69
Abstract
This book is an introduction to the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. The FEP has been described as new paradigm with potential to unify the biological and cognitive sciences. According to the FEP, living organisms persist by minimizing their free energy (which can be variously translated as uncertainty, surprise, prediction error, or discrepancies between model and world). Active Inference means that we can resolve uncertainty (or discrepancies between model and world) in basically two ways: by perception (i.e., changing our mind to fit the world) and by action (i.e., changing the world to make it fit our preferences and beliefs). The FEP and Active Inference represent a conceptual framework that may have potential to... (More)
This book is an introduction to the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. The FEP has been described as new paradigm with potential to unify the biological and cognitive sciences. According to the FEP, living organisms persist by minimizing their free energy (which can be variously translated as uncertainty, surprise, prediction error, or discrepancies between model and world). Active Inference means that we can resolve uncertainty (or discrepancies between model and world) in basically two ways: by perception (i.e., changing our mind to fit the world) and by action (i.e., changing the world to make it fit our preferences and beliefs). The FEP and Active Inference represent a conceptual framework that may have potential to contribute to a unification of psychological science. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
This book is an introduction to the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. The FEP has been described as new paradigm with potential to unify the biological and cognitive sciences. According to the FEP, living organisms persist by minimizing their free energy (which can be variously translated as uncertainty, surprise, prediction error, or discrepancies between model and world). Active Inference means that we can resolve uncertainty (or discrepancies between model and world) in basically two ways: by perception (i.e., changing our mind to fit the world) and by action (i.e., changing the world to make it fit our preferences and beliefs). The FEP and Active Inference represent a conceptual framework that may have potential to... (More)
This book is an introduction to the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. The FEP has been described as new paradigm with potential to unify the biological and cognitive sciences. According to the FEP, living organisms persist by minimizing their free energy (which can be variously translated as uncertainty, surprise, prediction error, or discrepancies between model and world). Active Inference means that we can resolve uncertainty (or discrepancies between model and world) in basically two ways: by perception (i.e., changing our mind to fit the world) and by action (i.e., changing the world to make it fit our preferences and beliefs). The FEP and Active Inference represent a conceptual framework that may have potential to contribute to a unification of psychological science. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal for Person-Oriented Research
volume
12
issue
1
pages
63 - 69
publisher
Lundh Research Foundation
ISSN
2002-0244
DOI
10.17505/jpor.2026.29052
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
77ec6943-bb05-4652-b9e6-02c3f3ce528c
date added to LUP
2026-03-26 18:08:31
date last changed
2026-04-01 17:39:18
@misc{77ec6943-bb05-4652-b9e6-02c3f3ce528c,
  abstract     = {{This book is an introduction to the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. The FEP has been described as new paradigm with potential to unify the biological and cognitive sciences. According to the FEP, living organisms persist by minimizing their free energy (which can be variously translated as uncertainty, surprise, prediction error, or discrepancies between model and world). Active Inference means that we can resolve uncertainty (or discrepancies between model and world) in basically two ways: by perception (i.e., changing our mind to fit the world) and by action (i.e., changing the world to make it fit our preferences and beliefs). The FEP and Active Inference represent a conceptual framework that may have potential to contribute to a unification of psychological science.}},
  author       = {{Lundh, Lars-Gunnar}},
  issn         = {{2002-0244}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Review}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{63--69}},
  publisher    = {{Lundh Research Foundation}},
  series       = {{Journal for Person-Oriented Research}},
  title        = {{Book review: “Active inference. The free energy principle in mind, brain, and behavior” by Thomas Parr, Giovanni Pezzulo, and Karl Friston}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.17505/jpor.2026.29052}},
  doi          = {{10.17505/jpor.2026.29052}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}