The Limits of Prediction: Counterprediction, Self-Reference, and the Crack in Determinism

Abstract: A common assumption holds that perfect prediction is theoretically possible in a deterministic universe. However, I use puzzles of counterprediction and self-reference to highlight a source of unpredictability that is independent of ignorance or indeterminism. I argue that this form of unpredictability emerges for any system that represents the world from within, revealing a crack in the edifice of determinism  that life and cognition actively exploit. Crucially, representational activity must be understood as an intrinsic part of the world's fabric.