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A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness.

Ruben Laukkonen, Karl Friston, Shamil Chandaria

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106296 (opens in new tab)

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Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Topics Dreaming Meditation
Keywords Active inference Artificial intelligence Awareness Bayesian inference Computational modelling Consciousness Free energy Predictive processing Psychedelics Sleep Unconscious
Citations 17
Key points Proposes that active inference can model consciousness via three conditions: a world model, inferential competition through Bayesian binding, and epistemic depth, with a hyper-model for precision control enabling general intelligence.

Abstract

Can active inference model consciousness? We offer three conditions implying that it can. The first condition is the simulation of a world model, which determines what can be known or acted upon; namely an epistemic field. The second is inferential competition to enter the world model. Only the inferences that coherently reduce long-term uncertainty win, evincing a selection for consciousness that we call Bayesian binding. The third is epistemic depth, which is the recurrent sharing of the Bayesian beliefs throughout the system. Due to this recursive loop in a hierarchical system (such as a brain) the world model contains the knowledge that it exists. This is distinct from self-consciousness, because the world model knows itself non-locally and continuously evidences this knowing (i.e., field-evidencing). Formally, we propose a hyper-model for precision-control, whose latent states (or parameters) encode and control the overall structure and weighting rules for all layers of inference. These globally integrated preferences for precision enact the epistemic agency and flexibility reminiscent of general intelligence. This Beautiful Loop Theory is also deeply revealing about altered states, meditation, and the full spectrum of conscious experience.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research 2016 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming 2015 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience 2000 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives 2011 Theoretical or philosophical paper
The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up 2009 Theoretical or philosophical paper

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Dreaming Meditation Altered states of consciousness