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<title>Re: [Fis] Art as human practice</title>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dear Laszlo & FIS Colleagues,</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Let me continue the initial reaction to
the Kickoff text. As I was writing: "[arts] appear as an
'overflow' derived from two sources: the strong brain demands from
social groups involved in emerging linguistic practices, plus a
strange aesthetic impulse that i do not know how to qualify (and
perhaps has a deep biological significance)." </div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I have been reflecting on different
approaches potentially connected with the above apparent
dichotomy: The Social Brain (Robin Dunbar) and the Sociotype works
of my research group. Then the "Trophic Theory" by Dale Purves
(late 80s, early 90s) making a partial bridge to the aesthetics
effects, finally Manfred Clynes and his "sentic forms" (an
Austrian musician, neuroscientist, inventor, socialite) where we
clearly find the link with emotions and art 'forms', and somehow
return to the social brain... Too much, too long. I will
encapsulate the basics. </div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">1. Social Brain, about the relative
constancy of the number of acquaintances in our social-personal
networks. This number (aka as Dunbar's number, around 200 people
in modern humans), may be found in tribes, companies, army
organization, business... it generated a fashion in management
gurus a couple of decades ago --these ideas are very easy to find
in the literature. Evolutionarily and quite crucially, the number
of individual contacts, say the size of natural social groups in
humans, correlates with cortex size along the evo process of Homo.
Thus, larger social groups, tightly connected, demanded far more
extra cortex, particularly in relation with linguistic
practices.... Enter the "sociotype", making clear the crucial
correlation behind our social nature:
genotype--phenotype--sociotype. This concept also captures linguistic
practices, by showing a parallel with Dunbar's number, now
regarding how much talking time we devote to maintain the
different circles of the sociotype bonds (say, thinking in modern
societies: family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances). We need
those 3 - 4 hours of talking time, on average of course, depending
on situations and personalities. Loneliness otherwise becomes a
mental toxic (we made applied biomedical research on that) and
becomes a fundamental health risk factor. It is a growing problem
in today's young people hooked on screens... and in the elderly.
(Interesting works by Jorge Navarro, my former collaborator).</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">2. What does talking imply for our
brains? Dale Purves was fashionable a few decades ago: according
to his views, we could interpret that talking activities mobilize
trophic resources that maintain synaptic networks in good shape by
refreshing the supply and circulation of neuropeptides,
neuromodulators, neurohormones, etc. A good conversation leaves an
intense feeling of well being. But it may also be achieved by
exciting activities in matters of personal interest (eg, creating
art, watching art, participating in collective ceremonies). So, it
seems that something else is needed apart of the daily ration of
casual conversation. And in this respect the collective is of
enormous interest and importance for the individuals of our
species (Laszlo's main paper is great via the empirical works
showing the appreciation of the collective dimension in the arts).
Thereafter, your strong bonds of the sociotype --family, friends--
may grant you personal happiness, and the acquaintances may bring
you funny novelties, but inevitably an extra trophic is needed. It
has been always that way: from Greek recitals, drama and Olimpics,
to Roman Circus, to the enormous Entertainment industry of our
times, or the Tourism monster-destroyer of today, or the world
crazy on mass-sport spectacles. It is the unending quest for the
extra trophic! </div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">3. And concluding with Clynes, he
catalogued the fundamental "sentic forms" related to basic
emotions (following Paul Ekman, more or less). You find these
'forms' in our voice emotional overtones, in the physical contacts
we make, in laughter superimposed melodies too (again, research
with Jorge Navarro), and in the structures of formal music...
Seemingly we have to express them 'all' --all the forms, all the
emotions-- a thing not easy to do in daily life, so he proposed an
expression method (and made a little business about it). Indeed he
proposed quite strong a connection of these sentic forms with the
art forms & contents, and the deep aesthetic impulse. I would
ad that emotions become an inner apprehension of the factors that
most affect our daily life, the advancement of our own lives in a
social niche, full of open-ended problems that easily overload our
thin cognitions and have to be channeled in adaptive ways.
Expressing them, at least partially via surrogates, looks good and
healthy, for the 'social brain' convenience. Nevertheless the
extra trophic, the 'overflow' of our brains, remains. It can be
fed in trivial surrogates, in brutal ones, or in more difficult
but more rewarding domains--which are called Arts most of them.</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Enough. Hope the text can be followed
and makes some sense. </div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Best regards,</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">--Pedro </div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">El 15/01/2026 a las 10:27, OARF
escribió:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:22B4E9B1-147F-494B-BA10-5E7511A44FAD@oarf.org">
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<div>Hi Mark, Marcus, Laszio, Kate and Fis Colleagues,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I don’t know if the creation of art follows the same logic as
the logic of mathematics. I recall in university trying to
prove some difficult theorem will walking down the campus hill
back home, I would use fast backtracking form some start to the
finish (the theorem). By the time I. got down the hill I usually
had it. </div>
<div><br>
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<div>In contrast, when I do art there is no backtracking only
spontaneous adaption to what is. I have a general idea of what
I want but the motor part takes over to execute. Not does
emotion necessarily play a role in the creative process other
than the fun of it. Similar to the fun of shooting a basketball
while jumping and turning high in the air and making a perfect
shot. Or the feel of the body and breathing the fresh air while
cross country skiing. The art of the physical! The very doing of
art is the deeper beauty. The end product is just that. Much
like sex but there nature can take over to produce its own art
and product. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>///Below is from a previous post on the same topic in another
thread:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I grew up with an artist, my mother who wanted to be a
sculptor but life had other plans for her. Surrounded by actual
art being done day by day by mother or my fathers love of wood
and carpentry and me doodling while bored in grade school and
later doing cartoons and later theoretical mathematical
cartoons.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As an adult at University I also viewed S.C. Kleene’s
Introduction to metamathematics as art. Or von Neumann’s
mathematical theory of games and his mathematical foundations of
quantum mechanics as art. There is a wonderful beauty in
abstract thought and especially in the personal process of
construction of new theoretical concepts much like my mother’s
actively painting an oil. </div>
<div><br>
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<div>So art for me is tied to the emotional construction of it. </div>
<div><br>
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<div>As for animals and art, my theory of communication and
cooperation also applies to animal communication. </div>
<div>For an early version see: <a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.tark.org/proceedings/tark_mar7_88/p129-werner.pdf__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!XHWQY6CdfW4Dr6-g1VLtgrCAfPILHe90MKVPjng6oDkL1Unq1h5LESbCQVi_BvGjbnV1VTTlAhHKr2mDnZug0Nc$"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.tark.org/proceedings/tark_mar7_88/p129-werner.pdf</a></div>
<div>I think animals are highly intelligent and have complex
communication systems with art being a form of communication
important in the cooperative ecology of sexual reproduction. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The social cooperation and communication theory links
information with value and intentional states. I see emotions as
a complex of intentions (strategic), action-abilities,
information and their evaluation. Art combines all these
themes. It is the bedrock of the formation of and what makes
society possible at all. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This relates to Artificial Social Intelligence <a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07847__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!XHWQY6CdfW4Dr6-g1VLtgrCAfPILHe90MKVPjng6oDkL1Unq1h5LESbCQVi_BvGjbnV1VTTlAhHKr2mDYTXT6Sc$"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07847</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Now with AI we are at the doorstep of combining the abstract
with biological synthesis:</div>
<div>See my “AI-CAD-CRISPR Protocols to Crack the Cancer Code:
Reverse Engineer Multicellular Life and Design in silico Brains
with Natural Architectures” <a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395391173_AI-CAD-CRISPR_Protocols_to_Crack_the_Cancer_Code_Reverse_Engineer_Multicellular_Life_and_Design_in_silico_Brains_with_Natural_Architectures__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!XHWQY6CdfW4Dr6-g1VLtgrCAfPILHe90MKVPjng6oDkL1Unq1h5LESbCQVi_BvGjbnV1VTTlAhHKr2mDfCQ68-U$"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395391173_AI-CAD-CRISPR_Protocols_to_Crack_the_Cancer_Code_Reverse_Engineer_Multicellular_Life_and_Design_in_silico_Brains_with_Natural_Architectures</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>What will be the role of Art in the Bio-AI world? </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Eric</div>
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<div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap">-------</span></div>
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