Some Interesting Observations on the Free Energy Principle

Abstract

Biehl et al. (2021) present some interesting observations on an early formulation of the free energy principle. We use these observations to scaffold a discussion of the technical arguments that underwrite the free energy principle. This discussion focuses on solenoidal coupling between various (subsets of) states in sparsely coupled systems that possess a Markov blanket—and the distinction between exact and approximate Bayesian inference, implied by the ensuing Bayesian mechanics.