Imagination vs. routines: festive time, weekly time, and the predictive brain

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Social Sciences
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Societal structures (traditions, norms, laws, customs) and creative expressions (arts, media) are fundamental aspects of human culture.
• The predictive coding framework offers a novel lens to understand cognitive processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between societal structures, creative expressions, and the predictive coding framework.
• To propose that cultural dimensions serve as adaptations for enhancing social predictive abilities.

Main Methods:

• Review of key principles of predictive coding and active inference.
• Exploration of cultural traditions and artistic culture through the predictive coding perspective.

Main Results:

• Societal structures and arts are framed as adaptations enhancing social predictive abilities.
• Traditions reduce social uncertainty by fostering shared predictions.
• Arts and media hone predictive skills by exposing individuals to diverse social scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Both normative societal structures and creative arts contribute to the development and refinement of the brain's social predictive capabilities.
• Cultural elements can be understood as mechanisms that optimize social cognition and adaptation.