Author of The Romance of Reality, neuroscientist by training, freelance journalist (bylines @ The Atlantic, NY Times, BBC, Big Think, Psychology Today, etc.)

Joined January 2009
93 Photos and videos
Bobby Azarian retweeted
Replying to @dwarkesh_sp
Either of these two authors, if you haven't: @BobbyAzarian or @BrendanGrahamD1 x.com/AnnaLeptikon/status/19…

I recommend these for a worldview fundamentally based on thermodynamics:
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Tomorrow (Wed) at 1 pm ET I will be giving a talk to the Active Inference Institute about my new consciousness theory "Strange Loop Theory" which proposes a resolution to the hard problem of consciousness and a path to conscious machines (and an ethical framework). I've never been more excited about a talk—tune in!
Announcements for week of February 23, 2026 weekly.activeinference.insti… Upcoming Livestreams: GuestStream #015.4 ~ 2/25/2026 at 18 UTC Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian : “A Strange Loop Solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness” youtube.com/live/dTcuDE6nUpg ModelStream #021.1 ~ 3/5/2026 at 13 UTC Melih Kandemir: “Distributional Active Inference“ youtube.com/live/2NB7hTsp_F0 “Fundamentals of Active Inference” textbook group. We will have a collaborative textbook group For the upcoming textbook “Fundamentals of Active Inference: Principles, Algorithms, and Applications of the Free Energy Principle for Engineers” by Sanjeev V. Namjoshi (2026) — starting in March 2026! All details and registration form at: textbook-group.activeinferen… Open Project Meetings this week: See activities.activeinference.i… for the location of all events listed here. 2/26/2026, 13:00 UTC — RxInfer.jl ~ Learning session. 2/27/2026, 13:00 UTC — RxInfer.jl ~ Projects session. Join the Discord: discord.activeinference.inst… Learn more about the Active Inference Ecosystem ecosystem.activeinference.in… Make a Measurement to get your update included in the upcoming Newsletter: measure.activeinference.inst… We are a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit. Donate at: donate.activeinference.insti… Email blanket@activeinference.institute with any questions.
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
Want to learn more about life and humanity as dissipative structures, constantly defying entropy to maintain their innate order and complexifying over time? I recommend these two books by @BrendanGrahamD1 and @BobbyAzarian x.com/annaleptikon/status/19…

I recommend these for a worldview fundamentally based on thermodynamics:
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Been quiet for a while because I was finishing my new book! Lots of new content coming. Check out my article for @PsychToday The Hidden Connection Between Information and Consciousness. For a deeper dive, see the linked Substack post. tinyurl.com/5x2nj4tt
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
I’m pretty sure we need more than 2 parties.
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I’m half Iranian and most of my family is in Tehran. This conflict was unprovoked and the timing was to distract from the world waking up to the reality in Gaza. Netanyahu is dragging us into a conflict that will almost certainly catalyze WWIII. We must not fall into the trap.
Netanyahu started this war by attacking Iran. He assassinated Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, deliberately sabotaging US-Iran nuclear negotiations. The US must not be dragged into another illegal Netanyahu war – either militarily or financially.
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This is a subtle point that seems hard to articulate due to language. If you have rated something as unlikely to happen and it happens, it doesn't mean something unlikely happened — It means something highly probable happened and you just didn't know all the facts.
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Pay attention to posts like this. The CDC does not operate like academia, and academia is starting to realize this — and when the public learns they’ve been gaslighted beyond belief and responds appropriately, we’ll finally get the transparency we need, for trust and for our safety. Conflicts of interest have corrupted government-run science.
8 Mar 2025
I don't quite understand the outrage about the CDC conducting a scientific study looking for possible connections between vaccines and autism, in the face of the absence of evidence. Why would be bad to narrow the error bars? Is the question itself some kind of heresy?
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Thanks to all those who let others know that my account was in the possession of hackers. It was hacked on the day (Inauguration Day) I had teased dropping some high-impact journalism, so the chances it was a coincidence approach zero. Full story coming soon — it's quite a tale.
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Interesting question very much aligned with what I’m writing about in my new book.
Assume for the sake of argument that each major religion succeeded because it was built around some novel psychological insight. What insight would you ascribe to each?
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The importance of acknowledging and exercising your agency cannot be overstated. It’s encouraging to see this message spreading. It’s time we correct the errors of Sam Harris and Sapolsky regarding free will. It’s time the nation wakes up to the egregious gaslighting and takes (peaceful) action.
In her new article, "The Myth of Female Agency," @Louise_m_perry argues that “very few people are highly agentic.” I would say that almost all people have the capacity to be highly agentic, but many are prevented from realizing their agency because they have an external locus of control, in part reinforced by cultural messages that diminish personal agency—such as referring to it as a myth. She also states that not being highly agentic isn't a bad thing, which I disagree with. Extensive research has found a significant link between having an external locus of control—believing that life is shaped by forces beyond your control—and mental illness. I think we should reject the views that perpetuate an external locus of control and encourage others to adopt an internal locus of control—the belief that we have agency over our lives.
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
To see all this as one great whole allows us to discern how all our voices play some role in something vast that learns. As that increasingly employs our words for what it seeks, by now, we give machines a voice. Through them, more stardust speaks.
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Bayesians—analyze this.
This is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and is in NO WAY meant to be accusatory. Conclusions drawn are those of the reader based on publicly available information. ALL SOURCES ARE AT THE END. Timeline of events including Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, and Nancy Pelosi.
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
"The worldview is the Markov blanket for the social organism", "a strategy for collective survival". @BobbyAzarian quoted in @BrendanGrahamD1's "The Evolution of Meaning: A Universal Learning Process"
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
Entropy is one of those formulas that many of us learn, swallow whole, and even use regularly without really understanding. (E.g., where does that “log” come from? Are there other possible formulas?) Yet there's an intuitive & almost inevitable way to arrive at this expression.
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
Out today: Check out this fascinating new book on the origins of consciousness. The Dawn of Mind: How Matter Became Conscious and Alive: Cooke PhD, James: 9781633889927: Amazon.com: Books amazon.com/Dawn-Mind-Matter-…

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Bobby Azarian retweeted
6 Nov 2024
The election wasnt close and now the repubs might control all three branches of gov. The only person i know that predicted a trump landslide and was steadfast in his views for the past year was journo, writer philosopher Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian
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What if losing now means winning later? My latest Substack essay explores how the defeat of the Democratic establishment could paradoxically strengthen true progressive values through triggering necessary systemic reform. Sometimes systems need to break to evolve. Here's why there's reason for optimism (link below; ATTN:@elonmusk)
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Check out my proposal for a "New Stoned Ape Theory" that synthesizes McKenna's insights with @RCarhartHarris' Entropic Brain Hypothesis and modern complexity theory. The theory suggests we may be entering a new psychedelic era that represents another great leap in human evolution. Of interest to @Ravarora1 @joerogan @JasonSilva @jamiewheal
5 Nov 2024
"The Bayesian update of [Terence] McKenna’s brilliant but half-baked hypothesis emerges as we appear to be entering a new period of psychedelic renaissance amidst a backdrop of civilizational chaos, and perhaps that is not a coincidence." @BobbyAzarian bigthink.com/the-past/a-new-…
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Bobby Azarian retweeted
4 Nov 2024
Calling on the next U.S President: An urgent plea to reform psychedelic policy. The U.S is in a mental health crisis with millions suffering from depression, PTSD, and addiction. Those ppl deserve gold-standard treatment. From @Drug_Researcher and I: illusionconsensus.com/p/2024…
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