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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Thanks all — I won’t rehearse the “operational
footholds” point again (I’ve already posted something along those lines), but I’d like to suggest a very small procedural move that could help the discussion converge.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">If we want genuine scientific deliberation (rather than parallel
essays), could we each try to offer one discriminating prediction — i.e., a claim that would look different in data depending on which explanatory emphasis is doing the work?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">To keep it simple, we could anchor predictions to three recurring
contrasts in this thread:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A) Artefact vs practice (Mark’s point)</span></p>
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<li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
What measures or signatures would distinguish practice (training/rehearsal/sketching/revision trajectories) from experience (aesthetic “pull”, affect, meaning)?</li></ul>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">B) Valuation / affect vs cognition / skill (Kate’s emphasis
vs Mark’s caution)</span></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
What should we expect to see when the same formal pattern is presented with different relevance to “self/not-self”, reward, social belonging, or threat?</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
Conversely, what should remain stable when valuation changes but skill acquisition and compositional constraints are held constant?</li></ul>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">C) Human–animal continuity vs discontinuity (László’s question;
John/Pedro’s lines)</span></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
What would count as an “art-like” continuity at the level of operations (repeatable form + evaluative uptake + re-entry), even if cumulative culture differs?</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
And what would count as a specifically human discontinuity (e.g., norm-governed pedagogy, explicit rehearsal regimes, symbolic recombination, long-range revision)?</li></ul>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">If helpful, a concrete template could be as minimal as:</span></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
Claim (one sentence): what you think primarily drives art-like practices</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
Comparator: what you’d compare it against (human novice/expert; cross-cultural; animal patterned production; solo vs collective ritual; with/without audience; etc.)</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
Prediction: what would be different if your claim is right</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">
Operational measure: what you’d actually record (timing/entrainment; prediction error; revision traces; uptake/norm formation; etc.)</li></ul>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That way, disagreement stays productive: we’re not trying
to “win” metaphysics; we’re trying to generate contrasts that different metaphysical commitments can still treat as admissible.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Best wishes,</span></p>
<p style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Steve</span></p>
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