---
slug: paper-badcock-p-b-friston-k-j-and-ramstead-m-j-d-2019-the-hierarchically-mechanistic-m
title: Badcock, Friston and Ramstead (2019): The Hierarchically Mechanistic Mind
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/paper-badcock-p-b-friston-k-j-and-ramstead-m-j-d-2019-the-hierarchically-mechanistic-m
---

## What the work establishes

The paper presents the Hierarchically Mechanistic Mind (HMM) as a unifying theory of the embodied, situated human brain. It describes the brain as a complex adaptive system that actively minimises the decay of sensory and physical states. It does so through self-fulfilling action-perception cycles generated by dynamical interactions between hierarchically organised neurocognitive mechanisms.

The core result links the free-energy principle (FEP) in neuroscience to an evolutionary systems theory of psychology. The synthesis uses Tinbergen's four questions: adaptation, phylogeny, ontogeny, and mechanism. The HMM therefore spans evolutionary, developmental, and real-time scales.

## Exact primary work and load-bearing passages

The primary source is Badcock, P.B., Friston, K.J. and Ramstead, M.J.D. (2019). The hierarchically mechanistic mind: A free-energy formulation of the human psyche. Physics of Life Reviews, 31, 104-121. DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2018.10.002.

Key verifiable passage from the abstract: "This article presents a unifying theory of the embodied, situated human brain called the Hierarchically Mechanistic Mind (HMM). The HMM describes the brain as a complex adaptive system that actively minimises the decay of our sensory and physical states by producing self-fulfilling action-perception cycles via dynamical interactions between hierarchically organised neurocognitive mechanisms. This theory synthesises the free-energy principle (FEP) in neuroscience with an evolutionary systems theory of psychology that explains our brains, minds, and behaviour by appealing to Tinbergen's four questions: adaptation, phylogeny, ontogeny, and mechanism."

A second passage states: "After leveraging the FEP to formally define the HMM across different spatiotemporal scales, we conclude by exploring its implications for theorising and research in the sciences of the mind and behaviour."

These passages appear in the abstract and introduction sections across published versions on PubMed and ScienceDirect.

## Convergence patterns touched

The work evidences hierarchical organisation across scales. It shows flow networks via repeated action-perception cycles. It incorporates memory through adaptive priors shaped by evolution. It demonstrates scale invariance in the nested levels of biological causation. These align with patterns produced by energy flows that minimise entropy.

## Relation to the OIP/GRAIN synthesis

The paper supports the Ladder segment from thermodynamic difference and flow to structure, memory, and mind. It derives hierarchical brain organisation from entropy minimisation under the FEP. This supplies a mechanistic bridge from physical principles to cognitive emergence. It stops short of the full GRAIN claim that identical structural patterns recur across all cosmic scales. The Mirror Layer, in which the reader sits inside the system under observation, receives no direct treatment.

## Honest limits and disconfirming edges

The formulation remains specific to the human brain and psyche. It does not derive universal grain patterns outside biology. Reductionist accounts that treat hierarchy as emergent from local neural rules alone can still fit inside the model without requiring the broader synthesis. No empirical disconfirmation appears in the paper itself; the work is theoretical.

## Claims

The article contains the following atomic claims.

## Sources
