ActInf GuestStream 061.1 ~ Shagor Rahman: "Myth of objectivity and the origin of symbols"

Myth of objectivity and the origin of symbols
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/... Shagor Rahman An age-old challenge in
epistemology and moral philosophy is whether objectivity exists independent of
subjective perspective. Alfred North Whitehead labeled it a “fallacy of
misplaced concreteness”; after all, knowledge is represented elusively in
symbols. I employ the free energy principle (FEP) to argue that the belief in
moral objectivity, although perhaps fallacious, amounts to an ancient and
universal human myth that is essential for our symbolic capacity. To perceive
any object in a world of non-diminishing (perhaps irreducible) uncertainty,
according to the FEP, its constituent parts must display common probabilistic
tendencies, known as statistical beliefs, prior to its interpretation, or
active inference, as a stable entity. Behavioral bias, subjective emotions,
and social norms scale the scope of identity by coalescing agents with
otherwise disparate goals and aligning their perspectives into a coherent
structure. I argue that by declaring belief in norms as objective, e.g.,
expressing that a particular theft or infidelity was generally wrong, our
ancestors psychologically constructed a type of identity bound only by shared
faith in a perspective that technically transcended individual subjectivity.
Signaling explicit belief in what were previously non-symbolic norms, as seen
in many non-human animals, simulates a top-down point of view of our social
interactions and thereby constructs our cultural niche and symbolic capacity.
I demonstrate that, largely by contrasting with overly reductive analytical
models that assume individual rational pursuit of extrinsic rewards, shared
belief in moral conceptions, i.e., what amounts to a religious faith, remains
a motivational cornerstone of our language, economic and civic institutions,
stories, and psychology. Finally, I hypothesize that our bias for familiar
accents (shibboleth), plausibly represents the phylogenetic and ontogenetic
contextual origins of our impulse to minimize social surprise by declaring
belief in the myth of objectivity. Active Inference Institute information:
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