Perception is hallucinatory

Since perception is generative, neuroscientist Anil Seth claims that ‘perception is a controlled hallucination’ because the brain’s predictions are corrected by sensory data, and hallucinations are ‘uncontrolled perceptions’ when the brain’s predictions are not properly corrected.

Our internal perceptions- our emotions and moods- are also ‘controlled hallucinations’ in response to sense data from within our body (as it responds to the external world). For example, we do not scream because we feel afraid when we see a charging bear. Rather, seeing the bear causes our heart to race and body to sweat, and we feel fear in response to these physiological changes.

There is a continuum between normal, controlled hallucinations and uncontrolled ones. For example, pareidolia occurs when we see patterns in objects, such as faces in clouds, yet we do not conclude that we are hallucinating. Interestingly, visual pareidolia is accepted as a normal experience unlike audio pareidolia since hearing voices is considered to be abnormal. 

Investigating hallucinations can provide insights about normal perceptual experience, although there is no firm boundary between hallucinations, illusions and misperceptions.

Many cultures regard hallucinations as special and even sacred altered states of consciousness but western culture tends to interpret them negatively and symptomatic of ill health. What models and values should we use to interpret and give meaning to these experiences?