[Fis] The genesis of art, love and wellbeing--three roots

Tue Feb 3 08:31:33 CET 2026

Dear William,

in Ethics of Economic Values or Economics of Ethical Values
(FrancoAngeli, Milan, 2004) I wrote in 115-122 pages some things that
might interest you, I will excerpt a small part of it below

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⌠Since 1979, I have been working on a city model based on a (not hard or
deterministic, but gentle and flexible) interactive
multi-temporal-dimensional-media-linguistic-criteria matrix. I have written
about this several times in this book. Naturally and culturally, I have
employed and calibrated the same model-algorithm for the company analysis.
Here – also to pay homage to Pedro C. Marijuán, an exquisite and sensitive
person (not only in a human sense) whom I met at an international
conference of physicists, biologists, chemists, etc., which took place in
Acireale from 17 to 22 September on the topic of Energy and information
transfer in biological systems, so dear to me as if I had chosen it (too) –
I would like to launch the hypothesis that it could also be useful to
better understand and “measure” (in the sense of evaluating) the
functional-structural nature-culture or de-cipher-ation of a cell, indeed
of every cell that in a given spatio-temporal situation resembles and/or
dissimilars (differs from) all the others.

Every cell is a uni-duality or a uni-multiplicity, an I-in-oi or an I-in-I,
that is, from a functional-structural perspective, a cell in itself and an
element in the whole of O that is a tissue, an organ, a living being, just
as a man is at the same time a man in itself and an element in the sense of
the unitary-unicative comm(-n-io)ne or in the anagrammatic
communitarian-communicative I. Everything that is, in some way,
unrepeatable, unique, and absolutely individual and "individualizing" is
ap-perceived through unique and unrepeatable moments or living beings.
Individuality, apparently hidden and veiled by the fundamental elements of
atoms and cells, “emerges” as the universe and its actors (men and women,
animals and plants) evolve, strengthening and improving their capacity for
trans-inform-ation or ad-aptation and ex-aptation.

The uniqueness or unrepeatability of individuals and their personalities
(of humans, animals, and plants) permeates and is permeated by that
complex, intertwined, convulsive, and chaotic set of similar and dissimilar
phenomena, of similar and different things, that are natural and social
systems. Every being is unique, specific, and atypical, regardless of
whether they are humans, animals, or plants. Besides having in common the
fact that they are made up of the same-different cells and equal-unequal
atoms, and being different because humans have consciousness and other
living beings do not (?), they all have their own unique, mysterious,
phylo-onto-genetic history⌡.

Dear William,

in *Etica dei valori economici o economia dei valori etici* (FrancoAngeli,
Milano, 2004) ho scritto in 115-122 pagine alcune cose che potrebbero
interessarti, ne stralcio una piccola seguente parte:

⌠Dal 1979 lavoro ad un modello di città basato su una (non dura o
deterministica, ma dolce e flessibile) matrice inter-attiva
multi-temporale-dimensionale-mediale-linguistica-criteriale. Di questo ho
scritto più volte nel presente libro. Naturalmente e culturalmente lo
stesso modello-algoritmo ho impiegato e tarato per l’analisi dell’azienda.
Qui – anche per fare un omaggio a Pedro C. Marijuán, persona squisita e
sensibile (non solo in senso umano) che ho conosciuto in un convegno
internazionale di fisici, biologici, chimici, etc., che s’è svolto ad
Acireale dal 17 al 22 settembre sul tema Energy and information transfer in
biological systems, a me tanto caro come se l’avessi scelto (anch’) io –
desidero lanciare l’ipotesi che esso possa essere utile anche a comprendere
e “misurare”(nel senso di valutare) meglio la natura-cultura
funzional-strutturale o de-cifr-azione di una cellula, anzi di ogni cellula
che in una data situazione spazio-temporale somiglia e/o dissomiglia
(differisce d)a tutte le altre.

Ogni cellula è un’uni-dualità o un’uni-molteplicità, un io-n-oi o un
io-n-io, cioè è in una prospettiva funzional-strutturale una cellula a sé e
un elemento nell’insieme di o che è un tessuto, un organo, un essere
vivente, come un uomo è allo stesso tempo un uomo a sé e un elemento nel
senso del(la) comu(-n-io)ne unitario(a)-unicativo(a) o nell’anagrammatico
io comunitario-comunicativo. Tutto ciò che è, in un certo qual modo,
ir-ripetibile, unico e assolutamente individuale e “individualizzante” si
fa ap-percepire attraverso momenti o viventi unici e ir-ripetibili.
L’individualità, apparentemente nascosta e velata dagli elementi
fondamentali degli atomi e delle cellule, va “emergendo” man mano che
l’universo ed i suoi attori (uomini e donne, animali e piante) si evolvono,
rafforzando e migliorando la loro capacità di tras-inform-azione o
ad-attamento e ex-attamento.

L’unicità o ir-ripetibilità individual-personale (di uomini, animali,
piante) attraversa ed è attraversata da quell’insieme, complesso,
intrecciato, convulso e caotico di fenomeni simili e dissimili e di cose
somiglianti e differenti che sono i sistemi naturali e sociali. Ogni essere
è una o ha la sua univoca, specifica e atipica impronta ecologica a
prescindere che si tratti di uomini, animali o piante, che oltre ad avere
in comune il fatto che sono costituiti dalle stesse-differenti cellule e
dagli uguali-disuguali atomi e ad essere differenti perché gli uomini hanno
la coscienza e gli altri esseri viventi no (?), hanno tutti una loro e
unica, misteriosa, storia filo-onto-genetica⌡.

Francesco

Il giorno lun 2 feb 2026 alle ore 17:21 William Miller <wbmiller1 en cox.net>
ha scritto:

> Dear All,
>
>
> I have followed this fascinating thread with great interest. Pedro's
> comment on getting to the 'root' of the reason for art and the appreciation
> of beauty has motivated me to comment now, rather than previously, since
> the prior thrust of the discussion has focused on our human sensibilities,
> and my work is about cells. However, any discernment of a 'root' of an
> aesthetic impulse must eventually include consideration of how cells
> operate, since we are all cellular constructs. I hope you will find this
> alternative take on the matter interesting and not off-topic.
>
> I have published about the empirically verified behaviors of all cells.
> Those observations and experiments confirm that cells operate within a
> compact narrative of consistent behaviors since their origin as their means
> of dealing with their obligatory context of the ambiguity of biological
> information (previously presented with Mike Levin).
>
> All cells are intelligent and engaged in measuring ambiguous environmental
> cues as infocomputation for (value) and valence (subjective experiences at
> scale ). I defend that cells have experiences at scale because all cells
> have defined homeorhetic preferences that they maintain but also adjust in
> context as differential rates of dynamic flux. Kant had intuited that all
> learning derives from experiences and cells are certainly learning systems.
>
> Cells consistently display six behavioral attributes: collaboration,
> cooperation, co-dependence, generally mutualizing competition, respect for
> the self-integrity of other cells, and they consistently abide by the
> principle that each is served best by serving others. The proof is seamless
> multicellularity, enabling you to read this now. None of this is
> conjectural and is easily observable. Indeed, cancer is destructive since
> it does not follow those rules with normative cells, only with like-kind
> cancer cells (as a different form of selfhood).
>
> Notably, cells act in these patterns because this is how they form their
> sense of the world, i.e., glean at their scale some understanding of the
> status of their interior versus the external environment, essential to
> maintaining their preferential states and naturally implicit to their
> survival. This is how they form their grasp of reality, from which all
> problem-solving must issue. After all, cells are not programmed robots:
> they are decision-making and problem-solving agents.
>
> I would offer that the deepest root of art is an expression of our
> cellular selves as a search to find answers to our yearning questions and
> doubts about reality, on the one hand, and as an explicit expression of a
> state of preference in context on the other. These two cellular imperatives
> merge as our expression of art and govern our need to create it. This also
> explains why some art is beautiful to some and execrable to others, and
> some art is seen as illuminating to one individual and ridiculous to
> another. It is always an individual, subjective assessment that reflects an
> exclusive interior state.
>
> Our consciousness consists of doubts and preferences. As I often say,
> 'being is doubt', and I now offer that 'life is preferences'. Art is each
> individual's idiosyncratic attempt to resolve personal doubts, expressively
> illustrate its effect on the artist, and satisfy a preferential state.
> Furthermore, since art is shared with others almost without exception, it
> is a communal activity, conforming with the innate cellular root behavior
> of 'you serve yourself best by serving others'.
>
> We are cellular beings, and all of evolution is a narrative of the
> continuous exaptation of unicellular traits channeled and repurposed at
> successive scales . In each instance, it serves to enhance the deployment
> of information to problem-solve in our unending struggle to grasp external
> reality. These exaptations are tools of continuous cellular natural
> learning, which requires an unending exploration the environment through
> alternative paths. Art is one means by which this deeply rooted impulse, so
> essential to life, is satisfied.
>
> After all, isn't this exactly what we are currently engaged in within this
> forum and is it not its own form of Art?
>
> Best,
>
> Bill
>
>
> On Friday, January 30, 2026 at 01:18:08 PM MST, Pedro C. Marijuán <
> pedroc.marijuan en gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Dear Laszlo, Paul, Francesco... --and FIS Colleagues,
>
> For the sake of bringing some coherence to the 'underground' ideas on art
> that have been produced lately, let me try sort of a scheme that may
> parallel what Laszlo has presented on the "externalized" art. He has
> brought order and clarity on a phenomenon full of complexities and
> pseudo-complications. The fact that Krassimir has successfully connected it
> with his own approach to Info Theory is revealing. Could we now draft an
> accompanying something on the interiors?
> If we follow the metaphor of a tree, the three proposed vectors of
> creativity (originality), communication, and experience seem to capture the
> main 'branches' of the observable art experience, of the art phenomenon.
> What about the 'roots'? Some of us have argued on the biological factors,
> three of them could be:
>
> --Sense of play. Plenty of behavioral/evolutionary studies... "Animal
> play remains a complex and variable behavioral phenomenon across a wide
> range of mammals, and their mechanisms and functions are not yet ... an
> enigmatic phenomena" It extends to multiple species of birds, reptiles,
> etc. Human neoteny has potentiated and enlarged this sense in adults and at
> the whole social level. The artist plays, listen to Picasso, or to any
> modest practitioner.
>
> --Emotional engagement. As discussed, my take is that the intense emotions
> related to human pair bonding, essentially love, are conflated with the
> above playing with forms, sounds, words, narratives, etc. Let us remember
> Clynes' sentics (thanks, Jerry). It is a gradation, from the superficial to
> the extreme.
>
> -- Aesthetic impulse. I completely agree that Nature is full of Beauty,
> that in plenty of species we can appreciate elegance, majesty,
> gracefulness... Why so much beauty in nature?? No response.
> In science we have to look for plausible explanations, or accepting we
> don't have them, and not parroting the selectionist dogma. Well, the
> aesthetic impulse, in our species, looks again conflated with the pair
> bonding complex. In our societies, beauty and elegance --or their
> surrogates-- are looked for, and played with, so intensely in all the
> relational world...
>
> Far more should be worked out, but these three initial pills at the 'root'
> may help a little to cohere with the 'branches'.
>
> Best --Pedro
>
> ---Helas! Laszlo and colleagues, one of the conditions of the New Year
> Lecture is the January term... Better if concluding comments appear during
> next days.
>
>
>
> Antonyms of ELEGANCE: flamboyance, El 29/01/2026 a las 18:00, Paul Suni
> escribió:
>
> Dear Pedro,
>
> You opened a wonderfully complex topic connecting art, love and wellbeing
> and challenged us to think about it in the context of biological
> capabilities. Whereas László's mathematical approach to art no doubt has
> value, the messy good stuff of interiors including love and individual
> wellbeing, also remains under-explored, in courageous ways.
>
> The Satin Bower Bird is an amazing artist, whose creations of bowers
> exceeds the aesthetic creative capacities of most individual humans, in my
> personal opinion. Science says that the Bower Bird creates its elaborate
> and aesthetically complex formations because of evolutionary sexual
> selection, but I strongly disagree with Science.
>
> I assert that the male Bower Bird engages in its sustained and extremely
> focused artistic activity, because it provides a rich and fulfilling
> interior experience for the individual bird, which could be partly
> substantiated through chemical analyses of its neurotransmitter metabolism.
> It  is a meticulous labor of love that has absolutely nothing to do with
> reproduction.
>
> After all, the birds do not participate in scientific discourse concerning
> reproduction or evolutionary theory, at all.  Furthermore, I hypothesize
> that the bird enjoys the specific degree of difficulty of his creation,
> which is a biochemically testable hypothesis, I claim. This raises the
> question of the bird's " human potential." The bird spends 9 months of the
> year toiling with its creation, and it sticks to his aesthetic project for
> as long as 30 years, like a true artist - a veritable Leonardo. There are
> easier ways to get laid, but toiling away is far more deeply meaningful for
> the bird.
>
> The artistic activity of the Bower Bird nourishes its little bird soul
> with expansive, love-like feelings ostensibly not entirely unlike Zohran
> Mamdani experiences when he engages with his idea of the " warmth of
> collectivism." In its creative love state, the bird is surely as oblivious
> to the genetic implications of its artistic activity as Mamdani is to the
> demonstrably potential genocidal implications of his love for collectivism.
> This state of ignorance is extremely relevant to our discourse on art. I do
> not mean to offer the analogy as a joke.
>
> Young male Bower Birds have the biopsychological capacity to develop their
> personal aesthetic sensibilities through sustained independent study of the
> works of senior Bower Birds. This can be seen from the countless sketchy
> assemblages that must be produced during their artistic development, before
> the first satisfactory bower is produced, and female birds care to take a
> discerning  look, which requires an aesthetic sensitivity, no doubt!
>
> That brings me to the delight that the male Satin Bower Birds bring to the
> female Satin Bower Birds, who spend considerable time enjoying and
> carefully assessing the aesthetic merits of beautiful bowers as well as
> admiring the cognitive and practical prowess of their sensitive male
> suitors. I emphasize to scientists that most of what I say could be
> scientifically substantiated, if science adopted a mature attitude towards
> sentience, and regarded the rich and fulfilling experiences of Bower Birds
> as important.
>
> Thank you Pedro and FIS colleagues for tolerating some of my surely
> annoying repetitions. I have received encouragement for them in private
> communications, and hope that the academic trance in which we are supposed
> to be held may begin to lift slightly, in my lifetime. Unfortunately, it is
> the way of academia to protect its psychopathic hold on its intellectual
> hegemony by shifting content in and out of the same old frames only to
> change the race, gender, politics and sex organs of its victims, while
> disseminating its toxicities into society at large.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
>
>
>
>
>
>
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