Bobby Azarian

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

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@jonisborn @AnnaLeptikon I don't think @bernardokastrop is aware of our work, but I'm going to send him my forthcoming book shortly — as it presents a mathematical theory of the universe as an informational system which has much in common with his analytic idealism. UTOR 2.0 is a MAL framework.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@frizzmains @AnnaLeptikon Basically by inverting thermodynamics completely, and turning it into a theory of knowledge creation. Dissipation and entropy production become merely the price of order creation, not its enemy. Extropy is formalized as a measure of complexity growth. Paper on this coming soon.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@peril10 @AnnaLeptikon @dwarkesh_sp @BrendanGrahamD1 March 2027 to be exact — and already finished. In it UTOR is turned into a proper mathematical TOE and Strange Loop Theory presents a working resolution to the hard problem. Packaged as a game. It's weird. Hope you enjoy it, Chris and Anna.

[Anna Riedl @AnnaLeptikon]

@dwarkesh_sp Either of these two authors, if you haven't:
@BobbyAzarian or @BrendanGrahamD1

https://t.co/riFENBXoYl

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@monsoonsharma @Ravarora1 @JDHaltigan I'd agree that everyone starts with the same, or similar, capacity for agency—but depending on whether we get exposed to meta-aware practices or self-reflective reasoning, we will either nurture or lose our capacity for top-down cognitive control. Agency can be spread too.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@monsoonsharma @Ravarora1 @JDHaltigan No, agency is very much correlated with prefrontal cortex function. An addict will have no capacity for adapting his behavior after errors, so he will literally not be able to override the drug-seeking signals. Agency is a cognitive muscle that requires maintenance and care.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@curtistalls @Polymarket Yeah I saw this and am going to write a Psych Today article on our "awakening protocol." Gonna follow Polymarket, thanks.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

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!

[Active Inference Institute @InferenceActive]

Announcements for week of February 23, 2026
https://t.co/VxyZrg0Ok3
Upcoming Livestreams:

GuestStream #015.4 ~ 2/25/2026 at 18 UTC
Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian : “A Strange Loop Solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness”
https://t.co/OFzSXAc0rX

ModelStream #021.1 ~ 3/5/2026 at 13 UTC
Melih Kandemir: “Distributional Active Inference“
https://t.co/xounor6VdD

“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: https://t.co/a8AFWY50GG

Open Project Meetings this week:
See https://t.co/xorFYpKOme 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: https://t.co/elawD0ldky

Learn more about the Active Inference Ecosystem https://t.co/DBdmfbiM6E

Make a Measurement to get your update included in the upcoming Newsletter: https://t.co/ScbX4l3LWN

We are a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit. Donate at: https://t.co/P8P4iS4YU3

Email [email protected] with any questions.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@beffjezos I have a 100k book making this a real thing coming out in a year with Simon & Schuster distribution. I have 12 technical papers using the thermodynamic framework to solve the major puzzles in physics and neuroscience. I'd like to share these with you--very relevant to E-Acc.

[Anna Riedl @AnnaLeptikon]

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

https://t.co/vtVoXrVfkM

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@VFD_org Correct!

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@pjm678678 @PsychToday I like how minimal and direct this is. Wanna exchange books? Send me a PDF!

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

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.

https://t.co/vpXwSoT6Eg

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@riechersm @Ravarora1 @sentientist It means although there is quantum indeterminacy and classical chaos there is still a kind of determinism at the cosmic scale emerging from attractor dynamics that guide evolution toward higher complexity, inevitably producing life and consciousness.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@Ravarora1 @sentientist Part 1: https://t.co/wBLSiJLeHE

Part 2: https://t.co/UttB0E7KwG

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

But the main argument is for a sort of global, statistical determinism that constrains the evolution of reality towards a trajectory of increasing complexity and awareness. This framework makes room for fundamental randomness at a quantum level that allows conscious cognitive agents to influence events through top-down causation (free will).

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@Ravarora1 @sentientist I have two free will articles on Psychology Today that was widely shared and debated on here by the main figures in the free will debate, but I’m publishing a comprehensive Substack on the topic that Rav is going to cross-post…

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@MarkSeanPuls @ProsperCLT2023 @phil_rein @bgetsbetter Re-listening to our conversation, I think it is one of my favorite discussions I've had. Regarding your point--my new work makes your idea formal with the concept of a "cosmic attractor field" that influences and is influenced by all living agents. Let's do it again soon!

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@LauraLoomer @RollingStone You are a true psychopath.

[Bobby Azarian @BobbyAzarian]

@Ravarora1 @kimianora He's a good behavioral scientist and I agree with the quote from this woman, but he is absolutely a "naive Newtonian/determinist" when it comes to the topic of agency. Sam Harris and Sapolsky will be proven not just wrong but dangerous to mental health.