{
  "title": "VariationalSynthesis",
  "domain": "Active Inference",
  "type": "Paper",
  "creators": [
    {
      "name": "Karl Friston"
    },
    {
      "name": "Daniel A. Friedman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Axel Constant"
    },
    {
      "name": "V. Bleu Knight"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chris Fields"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thomas Parr"
    },
    {
      "name": "John O. Campbell"
    }
  ],
  "description": "This paper introduces a variational formulation of natural selection, using the Bayesian mechanics of particular partitions to understand how slow phylogenetic processes constrain fast phenotypic proc...",
  "abstract": "This paper introduces a variational formulation of natural selection, using the Bayesian mechanics of particular partitions to understand how slow phylogenetic processes constrain fast phenotypic processes. The main result is a formulation of adaptive fitness as a path integral of phenotypic fitness, unifying evolutionary and developmental dynamics through the Free Energy Principle.",
  "keywords": [
    "variational synthesis",
    "natural selection",
    "Free Energy Principle",
    "Bayesian mechanics",
    "path integral",
    "evo-devo",
    "adaptive fitness",
    "particular partition"
  ],
  "methods": [
    {
      "name": "Free energy minimization",
      "description": "Applied free energy minimization approach"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bayesian modeling and inference",
      "description": "Applied bayesian modeling and inference approach"
    }
  ],
  "key_findings": [
    "This paper introduces a variational formulation of natural selection, using the Bayesian mechanics of particular partitions to understand how slow phylogenetic processes constrain fast phenotypic proc"
  ],
  "related_papers": [
    "2018_WoodliceAndMen",
    "2020_BehaviorEngineering",
    "2021_ModelingConflict"
  ],
  "checked_at": "2026-07-01T20:50:01Z"
}