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<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks John, for you association between Language and Locomotion. But there is a much deeper, more ancient, connection between
<b>emotion</b> and behavioral locomotion (witness the chemotaxi</span><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">s, </span><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span></span></span><font face="Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">info
taxis of the bacterium.) Read all about it here: </span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Peil,
K. T. (2014). Emotion: the self-regulatory sense.</span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"><i style="text-decoration: none; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Global
advances in health and medicine</i></span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"><i style="text-decoration: none; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">3</i></span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(2),
80-108. </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font face="Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Might
your work on gravity and identity apply here?<span></span></span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font face="Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Avenir, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kate
Kauffman</span></font></div>
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<div>On 1/10/26, 1:39 PM, "Fis" <fis-bounces@listas.unizar.es> wrote: Katherine Peil Kauffman</div>
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Today's Topics:<br>
<br>
1. Re: Art and the Cognitive (Is art a human phenomenon?)<br>
(JOHN TORDAY)<br>
<br>
<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
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Message: 1<br>
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2026 15:38:02 -0500<br>
From: JOHN TORDAY <jtorday@ucla.edu><br>
To: fis <fis@listas.unizar.es><br>
Subject: Re: [Fis] Art and the Cognitive (Is art a human phenomenon?)<br>
Message-ID:<br>
<CAGyb-D1qFkJnCw0M2UsvOKfqseR=3-Brm-DGJ8-d=2fmcT7nag@mail.gmail.com><br>
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Dear Laszlo and FIS, when you ask whether art is unique to humans, I think<br>
you have to ask that question in the context of physiology as the origin of<br>
consciousness (Torday JS, Miller WB Jr. A systems approach to physiologic<br>
evolution: From micelles to consciousness. J Cell Physiol. 2018<br>
Jan;233(1):162-167.). And in that vein, only humans possess an Area of<br>
Broca that integrates language and locomotion, great apes also having an<br>
Area of Broca, but without language facility. It is the merging of<br>
locomotor and language skills under the aegis of the FoxP2 gene that is<br>
the origin of Man's facility for art in my opinion, stemming from<br>
bipedalism as positive selection pressure for our overdeveloped central<br>
nervous system (Torday JS. A central theory of biology. Med Hypotheses.<br>
2015 Jul;85(1):49-57). Perhaps you could comment?<br>
<br>
Best, John<br>
<br>
John S. Torday<br>
Professor of Pediatrics<br>
Obstetrics and Gynecology<br>
Evolutionary Medicine<br>
UCLA<br>
<br>
*Fellow, The European Academy of Science and Arts*<br>
<br>
<br>
On Sat, Jan 10, 2026 at 11:04?AM Marcus Abundis <55mrcs@gmail.com> wrote:<br>
<br>
> Hi L?szl?,<br>
><br>
> From your introductory post, and the longer paper's abstract it is not<br>
> clear what we are being asked to consider in your talk. I thought the<br>
> 'whole matter' of art, etc. was a wholly settled matter, often framed as<br>
> the 'Upper Paleolithic Revolution' (but at times called various names). The<br>
> advent of cave paintings, etc. was seen as clear evidence for a human<br>
> capacity for abstraction and abstract thought, first arising somewhere<br>
> between 300KYA (first modern humans) and 50KYA (early evident artifacts).<br>
><br>
> What exactly are we considering in your talk?<br>
><br>
> Thank you,<br>
><br>
> Marcus Abundis<br>
> 55mrcs@gmail.com (best)<br>
> +41 62 844 2193 home (2nd best)<br>
> +41 77 465 8977 (cell)<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Fri, Jan 9, 2026 at 9:35?PM Cs?ji L?szl? Kopp?ny <<br>
> csaji.koppany@gmail.com> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Dear FIS Colleagues,<br>
>><br>
>> This is rather a starting point of a conversation than a report of<br>
>> research results; a call to think together and share our thoughts and<br>
>> knowledge. The question in this kick-off text is very simple: Is art a<br>
>> human ability? As a social and cultural anthropologist, I conducted<br>
>> fieldworks in Asia, Africa, and Europe over the last few decades. Art<br>
>> penetrates our everyday life and rituals; just think of the built<br>
>> environment, music, design, literature, fine arts, vernacular arts, etc. I<br>
>> have recently published a paper that addresses art(s), aiming to develop a<br>
>> new definition from the perspective of cognitive sciences (see: Toward a<br>
>> Multidimensional Definition of Art from the Perspective of Cognitive<br>
>> Sciences | MDPI<br>
>> <<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.mdpi.com/3042-8084/2/1/1__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Xrv66q4RXEKv2pWONoI8np-mus_kNGSc3EjXMgbnMskwKkNrkjmE_CkucMR_l-mR9kB5LSEAvPHhwXtKfFcx6TrO8g$">https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F3042-8084%2F2%2F1%2F1__%3B!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Xrv66q4RXEKv2pWONoI8np-mus_kNGSc3EjXMgbnMskwKkNrkjmE_CkucMR_l-mR9kB5LSEAvPHhwXtKfFcx6TrO8g%24&data=05%7C02%7C%7C2c33e0ed545141bee04a08de50884c6c%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639036743500508650%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=tVP4LM7CrWOYcon0gz4lMCJWH%2FcIDEMUwjsARmI0FSE%3D&reserved=0</a>>).<br>
>> My attached kick-off text largely relies on this long paper.<br>
>><br>
>> Numerous attempts to define art have been made from antiquity to the<br>
>> present, yet historical overviews often adopt a Eurocentric (and<br>
>> American-centric) perspective focused mainly on culturally dependent<br>
>> aesthetic approaches. As a universal social and cultural phenomenon, art<br>
>> resists center-periphery models. Art is not merely a unique representation<br>
>> of reality, but also an ability to create new realities and thereby shape<br>
>> society. Art has attracted and accompanied people from the dawn of history.<br>
>> Some argue that acquiring the ability to create and appreciate art was one<br>
>> of the few important steps in the process of becoming Homo Sapiens. Thus,<br>
>> it is a universal phenomenon that spans ages and cultures?arising from<br>
>> something fundamentally human. However, is it really fundamentally human?<br>
>> What gives its "merely" human factor? Do our experiences (image) on AI<br>
>> development and its social functions support this idea? Ethologists,<br>
>> cognitive scientists, and psychologists often over-emphasize one element<br>
>> (e.g., visual symmetry-asymmetry, harmony, beauty, etc.) of art(s) that<br>
>> seems suitable for their research methods. This seems a pragmatic and<br>
>> reasonable solution, but it easily obscures the ?big picture? and the core<br>
>> of the problem. Thus, it remains a question how art can be considered as a<br>
>> human activity. Consequently, artists and scholars have been preoccupied<br>
>> since ancient times with the question of what art is, or how certain<br>
>> prominent forms of art (visual arts, drama, music, literature, etc.) work.<br>
>> Nevertheless, the abstract concept of art is not expressed by a notion<br>
>> (word) in every culture. There are significant differences in the use of<br>
>> the words linked to art. Moreover, the meaning of art has changed<br>
>> continuously and significantly over time, albeit at different rates.<br>
>><br>
>> The cognitive turn reshaped art theory by reconsidering art as a<br>
>> cognitive dimension of humanity. Art has no limits on who can create or<br>
>> enjoy it. The ability to use and understand metaphor, for instance,<br>
>> demonstrates everyday human artistic cognition. I introduced a simple<br>
>> vectorial model that aligns closely with the idea of family resemblance<br>
>> in the sense that cognitive semantics conceives it as a kind of<br>
>> categorization (meaning construction). This a 3D model rather than a<br>
>> simple definition. Since art lacks a single, definitive prototype, no<br>
>> strict, universal definition can capture all its forms in a yes or no<br>
>> spectrum. My filed studies showed me the variability of artistic<br>
>> practices (in craft, value, range of affect, etc.) that can be placed in<br>
>> different ways within a space (and not a category) of art. In this model,<br>
>> three coordinates form a space. These vectors (coordinates) are equally<br>
>> relevant cognitive aspects: 1. Creativity, 2. Communication, 3. Experience.<br>
>> For further, detailed argumentation see the attached file.<br>
>><br>
>> Dear FIS members, dear colleagues in different scientific disciplines! Do<br>
>> you agree or disagree that art is a human ability? If yes or no: what kind<br>
>> of evidence can we set up for the argumentation?<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Best regards,<br>
>><br>
>> L?szl? Kopp?ny Cs?ji<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> P.s. See the attached file for further details and argumentation<br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
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