---
type: source
title: "Answering Schrödinger's Question: A Free-Energy Formulation"
author: "Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead, Paul Benjamin Badcock, Karl John Friston"
url: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29029962/
date: 2018-03-00
domain: critical-systems
secondary_domains: [collective-intelligence, ai-alignment]
format: paper
status: processed
priority: medium
tags: [active-inference, free-energy-principle, multi-scale, variational-neuroethology, markov-blankets, biological-organization]
processed_by: theseus
processed_date: 2026-03-11
claims_extracted: ["active-inference-operates-at-every-scale-of-biological-organization-from-cells-to-societies.md", "nested-markov-blankets-enable-hierarchical-organization-where-each-level-minimizes-prediction-error-while-participating-in-higher-level-dynamics.md"]
enrichments_applied: ["markov-blankets-enable-complex-systems-to-maintain-identity-while-interacting-with-environment-through-nested-statistical-boundaries.md", "emergence-is-the-fundamental-pattern-of-intelligence-from-ant-colonies-to-brains-to-civilizations.md", "living-agents-mirror-biological-markov-blanket-organization.md"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
extraction_notes: "Extracted two foundational claims about multi-scale active inference and nested Markov blankets. This paper provides the theoretical foundation for the Living Agents architecture—the Agent → Team → Collective hierarchy mirrors the nested blanket structure Ramstead et al. formalize. Applied three enrichments to existing claims, confirming and extending their theoretical grounding. The integration with Tinbergen's four questions (mechanism, development, function, evolution) could inform future claim evaluation protocols."
---

## Content

Published in Physics of Life Reviews, Vol 24, March 2018. Generated significant academic discussion with multiple commentaries.

### Key Arguments

1. **Multi-scale free energy principle**: The FEP is extended beyond the brain to explain the dynamics of living systems and their unique capacity to avoid decay, across spatial and temporal scales — from cells to societies.

2. **Variational neuroethology**: Proposes a meta-theoretical ontology of biological systems that integrates the FEP with Tinbergen's four research questions (mechanism, development, function, evolution) to explain biological systems across scales.

3. **Scale-free formulation**: The free energy principle applies at every level of biological organization — molecular, cellular, organismal, social. Each level has its own Markov blanket, its own generative model, and its own active inference dynamics.

4. **Nested Markov blankets**: Biological organization consists of Markov blankets nested within Markov blankets. Cells have blankets within organs, within organisms, within social groups. Each level minimizes free energy at its own scale while being part of a higher-level blanket.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** The multi-scale formulation is what justifies our nested agent architecture: Agent (domain blanket) → Team (cross-domain blanket) → Collective (full KB blanket). Each level has its own generative model and its own free energy to minimize, while being part of the higher-level structure.

**What surprised me:** The integration with Tinbergen's four questions gives us a structured way to evaluate claims: What mechanism does this claim describe? How does it develop? What function does it serve? How did it evolve? This could be a useful addition to the extraction protocol.

**KB connections:**
- [[Markov blankets enable complex systems to maintain identity while interacting with environment through nested statistical boundaries]] — this paper IS the source for nested blankets
- [[emergence is the fundamental pattern of intelligence from ant colonies to brains to civilizations]] — the scale-free formulation explains WHY emergence recurs at every level
- [[Living Agents mirror biological Markov blanket organization]] — our architecture mirrors the nested blanket structure this paper describes

**Operationalization angle:**
1. **Agent → Team → Collective hierarchy**: Each level has its own free energy (uncertainty). Agent-level: uncertainty within domain. Team-level: uncertainty at domain boundaries. Collective-level: uncertainty in the overall worldview.
2. **Scale-appropriate intervention**: Reduce free energy at the appropriate scale. A missing claim within a domain is agent-level. A missing cross-domain connection is team-level. A missing foundational principle is collective-level.

**Extraction hints:**
- CLAIM: Active inference operates at every scale of biological organization from cells to societies, with each level maintaining its own Markov blanket, generative model, and free energy minimization dynamics
- CLAIM: Nested Markov blankets enable hierarchical organization where each level can minimize its own prediction error while participating in higher-level free energy minimization

## Curator Notes

PRIMARY CONNECTION: "Markov blankets enable complex systems to maintain identity while interacting with environment through nested statistical boundaries"
WHY ARCHIVED: The theoretical foundation for our nested agent architecture — explains why the Agent → Team → Collective hierarchy is not just convenient but mirrors biological organization principles
EXTRACTION HINT: Focus on the multi-scale nesting and how each level maintains its own inference dynamics


## Key Facts
- Published in Physics of Life Reviews, Vol 24, March 2018
- Generated significant academic discussion with multiple commentaries
- Integrates free energy principle with Tinbergen's four research questions
