# Mental causation in a physical world: A self-causation model of downward causation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.10005 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10005/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 16 Oct 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Unsupervised Learning of Inter-Object Relationships via Group Homomorphism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.20925/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Downward causation is self-causation, the causel effect from the whole to its parts, and is considered a promising theory for the problem of mental causation. However, it remains to be clarified how an irreducible but supervenient downward causal power can arise. Here, we argue that a feedback control of lower micro-level synaptic weights using higher macro-level algebraic structural feedback errors is a model of downward causation. The feedback control consists of two mechanisms: observation of the feedback error and control of the feedback error. The two mechanisms can be implemented at two different levels of the hierarchy. Macro-level feedback error is described by algebra of supervenient macro-level functions, independent of the external cause. The supervenient macro-level feedback error constraining of the micro synaptic weights through feedback control is downward causation.