# Rethinking Hierarchy

**URL:** <https://discourse.numenta.org/t/rethinking-hierarchy/3956>\
**Category:** Numenta Theory\
**Created:** [May 29, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/rethinking-hierarchy/3956 "2018-05-29T21:28:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rhyolight](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.numenta.org/rhyolight/32/3922_2.png) [@rhyolight](https://discourse.numenta.org/u/rhyolight)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/rethinking-hierarchy/3956/1 "2018-05-29T21:28:57Z")

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> [@New Interactive Grid Cell Visualizations](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/new-interactive-grid-cell-visualizations/3938/2):
>
> I’m still a bit mentally stuck on the “Rethinking Hierarchy” slide of the linked talk. Intuitively it would seem that by the time we’re combining grid cell modules to disambiguate location, we should be pretty high in the hierarchy. E.g. in the visual domain, the edge or colour of a chair probably doesn’t help with location, but the chair object as a whole would. I’ve got a bit of a grid cell reading backlog at the moment so I may have missed something that’s already been explained.

I think the point we’re trying to make is this: _objects are represented in all levels of the hierarchy_. If you think of a coffee cup, you can imagine how it feels in your hands, against your lips. You can feel whether it is smooth or course. You also know it is a container used to transport liquid, usually into human mouths. This information is not present the lower sensory levels of the object’s representation, because they are focused on the small details, like textures or lines and curves. There is no concept of “transport liquid” at this level of the hierarchy. For this concept, you have to have composed objects already. You must be running higher up. You are handed objects that have been composed and you put together your object from those pieces (or something like that). The lower levels process the smaller sensory details, where it is harder to hold concepts like behavior, which usually involve objects and compositions of objects, not just sensory features.

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**Author:** ![sebjwallace](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.numenta.org/sebjwallace/32/6411_2.png) [@sebjwallace](https://discourse.numenta.org/u/sebjwallace)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/rethinking-hierarchy/3956/2 "2018-06-06T12:24:24Z")

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What talk is being referred to here? I couldn’t find any links in the other thread. I’m interested in this new idea of hierarchy as there’s a brief mention of it in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVT7dO_Tf4E&t=2s).

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**Author:** ![rhyolight](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.numenta.org/rhyolight/32/3922_2.png) [@rhyolight](https://discourse.numenta.org/u/rhyolight)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/rethinking-hierarchy/3956/3 "2018-06-06T15:14:55Z")

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