Understanding Epistemic Entropy: Navigating Information Chaos in the Digital Age

In the third part of the PsyberSpace series on entropy, host Leslie Poston delves into 'epistemic entropy,' exploring how your sense of reality is impacted by chaotic information systems and media. The episode discusses the brain's role as a prediction machine, the strain caused by conflicting information, and the concept of epistemic injustice. Leslie also examines how digital platforms shape our thought processes and offers practical advice for maintaining clarity and agency in an environment overwhelmed by biased and manipulative information streams.

00:00 Introduction to PsyberSpace
00:28 Recap of Previous Episodes
00:59 Understanding Epistemic Entropy
02:29 The Brain as a Prediction Machine
04:19 Information Overload and Pattern Anxiety
05:25 Epistemic Injustice and Power Dynamics
08:39 The Extended Mind and Digital Tools
10:54 Coping Strategies for Epistemic Entropy
13:34 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Resources:

Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

Barrett, L. F. (2017). The theory of constructed emotion: An active inference account of interoception and categorization. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(1), 1–23. 

Barrett, L. F. (2025). The theory of constructed emotion: More than a feeling. Current Opinion in Psychology, 53, 101817. 

Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. J. (1998). The extended mind. Analysis, 58(1), 7–19. 

Dotson, K. (2014). Conceptualizing epistemic oppression. Social Epistemology, 28(2), 115–138. 

Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic injustice: Power and the ethics of knowing. Oxford University Press. 

Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 127–138. 

Friston, K. (2009). The free-energy principle: A rough guide to the brain? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(7), 293–301. 

Clark, A. (2015). Radical predictive processing. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 53(S1), 3–27. 

McEwen, B. S., & Morrison, J. H. (2013). The brain on stress: Vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course. Neuron, 79(1), 16–29. 

Oulasvirta, A., Rattenbury, T., Ma, L., & Raita, E. (2012). Habits make smartphone use more pervasive. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 16(1), 105–114. 

Tufekci, Z. (2015). Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent challenges of computational agency. Colorado Technology Law Journal, 13, 203–218. 

Bakshy, E., Messing, S., & Adamic, L. A. (2015). Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science, 348(6239), 1130–1132. 

Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H., & Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “post-truth” era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 353–369. 

Starbird, K. (2017). Examining the alternative media ecosystem through the production of alternative narratives of mass shooting events on Twitter. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, 11(1), 230–239.