This paper addresses the challenges faced by multiscale formulations of the variational (free energy) approach to dynamics that obtain for large-scale ensembles. We review a framework for modelling complex adaptive control systems for multiscale free energy bounding organism-niche dynamics, thereby integrating the modelling strategies and heuristics of variational neuroethology with a broader perspective on the ecological nestedness of biotic systems. We extend the multiscale variational formulation beyond the action-perception loops of individual organisms by appealing to the variational approach to niche construction to explain the dynamics of coupled systems constituted by organisms and their ecological niche. We suggest that the statistical robustness of living systems is inherited, in part, from their eco-niches, as niches help coordinate dynamical patterns across larger spatiotemporal scales. We call this approach variational ecology. We argue that, when applied to cultural animals such as humans, variational ecology enables us to formulate not just a physics of individual minds, but also a physics of interacting minds across spatial and temporal scales - a physics of sentient systems that range from cells to societies.

中文翻译：

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变分生态学和感知系统物理学。


本文解决了大规模系综所获得的动力学变分（自由能）方法的多尺度公式所面临的挑战。我们回顾了为多尺度自由能边界生物生态位动力学建模复杂自适应控制系统的框架，从而将变分神经行为学的建模策略和启发法与生物系统的生态嵌套性的更广泛视角相结合。我们通过利用生态位构建的变分方法来解释由生物体及其生态位构成的耦合系统的动态，从而将多尺度变分公式扩展到个体生物体的行为感知循环之外。我们认为，生命系统的统计稳健性部分继承自其生态位，因为生态位有助于协调更大时空尺度上的动态模式。我们将这种方法称为变分生态学。我们认为，当应用于人类等文化动物时，变分生态学不仅使我们能够制定个体思想的物理学，而且还使我们能够制定跨空间和时间尺度相互作用思想的物理学——从细胞到生命体的感知系统的物理学。社团。