October 18, 2025
Jenann Ismael, Johns Hopkins University
A common assumption holds that perfect prediction is theoretically possible in a deterministic universe. However, I use puzzles of counterprediction and self-reference to highlight a source of unpredictability that is independent of ignorance or indeterminism. I argue that this form of unpredictability emerges for any system that represents the world from within, revealing a crack in the edifice of determinism that life and cognition actively exploit. Crucially, representational activity must be understood as an intrinsic part of the world's fabric.