The Predictive Mind by Jakob Hohwy
Why this book?
Some books answer questions.
Others change the questions we’re asking.
The Predictive Mind belongs in the second category.
At Human Landscape Studios, we’re exploring how people learn through surprise, uncertainty, and the moments when experience doesn’t match expectation. Predictive processing offers a compelling framework for thinking about these moments. Rather than describing the brain as a passive receiver of information, it suggests that we are constantly anticipating what comes next—using prediction as the foundation for perception, action, and learning.
That idea has reshaped several of the questions we’re currently investigating.
What happens when a child’s expectations are repeatedly met with safety? How might those experiences influence their willingness to explore, revise, and try again? And what role do relationships play in shaping whether uncertainty feels inviting or threatening?
This book doesn’t provide simple answers. Instead, it offers a vocabulary for thinking more carefully about the relationship between expectation, prediction error, and learning.
As we continue developing the ROOTS workbooks and exploring questions about curiosity, confidence, and formation, this is one of the conversations we’re returning to again and again.
Current Notes
We’re especially interested in how predictive processing intersects with:
- Attachment and secure-base relationships.
- Curiosity as a response to uncertainty.
- Emotional safety during learning.
- Reflection as a process of updating internal models.
- Designing experiences that invite exploration rather than evaluation.
These notes are part of an ongoing investigation. They represent the ideas currently shaping our work rather than settled conclusions.
What’s Next on the Studio Shelf
We’re also revisiting several related works as this investigation develops, including texts on attachment theory, developmental psychology, educational philosophy, and visual inquiry. Each brings a different perspective to the same central question: How do people become more open to learning from what they did not expect?
Questions I’m Carrying Forward
- How do repeated relational experiences shape our predictions about ourselves and others?
- When does prediction error invite curiosity, and when does it trigger self-protection?
- Could emotionally safe relationships teach us that being wrong is not dangerous?
- How might these ideas change the way we design adult learning experiences in ROOTS?