The Physics and Metaphysics of Social Powers: Bridging Cognitive Processing and Social Dynamics, a New Perspective on Power through Active Inference
Mahault Albarracin, Sonia de Jager, David Hyland, and Sarah Grace, Manski

TL;DR
This paper explores social power through the lens of active inference, proposing that empowerment enhances cognitive processing and social dynamics, creating a reinforcing cycle of increased influence and reduced vulnerability.
Contribution
It introduces a novel framework linking active inference with social power, emphasizing the dual role of social interactions and cognitive capacity in power dynamics.
Findings
Empowered individuals expand their policy and state space access.
Social empowerment increases information-processing capabilities.
Power buffers against vulnerabilities through enhanced computation.
Abstract
The concept of power can be explored at several scales: from physical action and process effectuation, all the way to complex social dynamics. A spectrum-wide analysis of power requires attention to the fundamental principles that constrain these processes. In the social realm, the acquisition and maintenance of power is intertwined with both social interactions and cognitive processing capacity: socially-facilitated empowerment grants agents more information-processing capacities and opportunities, either by relying on others to bring about desired policies or ultimately outcomes, and/or by enjoying more information-processing possibilities as a result of relying on others for the reproduction of (material) tasks. The effects of social empowerment thus imply an increased ability to harness computation toward desired ends, thereby augmenting the evolution of a specific state space.…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsCritical Realism in Sociology · Social Representations and Identity
