Markov Blankets represent the line between internal and external portions of a system.
- Markov Blankets represent the line between internal and external portions of a system.
- It's the blanket that delineates "self" from "other."
- If there is no boundary, you are buffeted around by everything external to you; nothing distinct can cohere.
- You can't have a situated point of view or stand for something.
- Every intelligent system has an internal model to help it navigate the external world.
- This requires an internal state distinct from the external state.
- Maintaining that Markov Blanket, that thing that gives you selfhood, the boundary between self and other, is what makes you alive.