>From Marco B.
to Mark B., and all MF
Mark wrote:
> Fist of all, thanks Marco for taking the time to share
> your provocative insights.
And I thank you for your q-answer.
> hormones? While "deep searching" the Internet, I
> arrived at pheromones!
Hormones and pheromones..... good suggestion.
My "insights" arrived to the point that emotions are the primal expression
of a social static pattern of value. Bo suggested "sensation" as the
biologic side of the same phenomenon.
Then you bring this idea of pheromones:
> Four distinct functions of pheronomes have been
> identified in animals. These are (1) Sex
> Attractants, (2) Alarm Pheromones (3) Aggregation
> Pheromones (4) Dispersion Pheromones
>
You rightly point out how pheromones condition the biologic relations of
individuals. This is true biology, as it's found in almost all biologic
species, animals and vegetables.
Then...
> Perhaps these pheromones in their functioning form the
> basis of a machine code for social
> patterns: but as our social level has evolved, social
> patterns (refined, perpetuated and
> transmitted across human generations) have replaced
> the need for them. Sex Attractants
> have been replaced by rituals of courtship
> (conversation, looking, smiling, dancing),
> appearance (dress, hair-style, make-up), perfume, etc.
... and so on...
There's a missing link. Why humans "have replaced the need for them" ? In
your pheromone definition you wrote:
> A pheromone (for those who like myself lack a science
> background) is a chemical
> produced by one member of a species that is detected
> by another member in which it
> produces a physiological or behavioral response. Such
> a response is probably due to an
> influence of vomeronasal input on hormone levels.
So there's a biologic message, "written" on a chemical substance (inorganic
pattern of value), that is "sent" from a biologic individual to another one
of the same species.This message is received and decoded by an apposite
sensor (VNOs) with the result of a produced "tempest" of hormones (another
inorganic pattern of value) in the receiving biologic individual.
I also made a search for "emotions" + "hormones", and found two interesting
points of view.
(my translations):
A) a physiological one, from the site of the Mario Negri institute of Milan,
a very important Italian institute of medical research.
http://www.cmns.mnegri.it/negrilink/taccuino/1996/tre.html
Title: <<Felicity from hormones. Sensation elevated to a scientific
interest.>>
<<After twenty years of research, emotions were defined as result of an
hormonal secretion. Until few years ago, it was seemingly incredible to
believe in the existence of a substance able to condition the behavior of
human beings.
Today it is known with the name of "endorphin", an hormone able to express
morphine-like functions, but produced by humans...>>
and
B) a psychological one from a site about wellness:
http://www.benessere.com/psicologia/emozioni.htm
<<Emotions, especially when intense, can cause diffused somatic alterations:
the central nervous system influences mimic reactions (face expression) and
muscular tension; the vegetative system and the endocrine glands influence
adrenaline secretion, increase of cardiac rhythm, and other visceral
reactions. >>
It's funny, and really SOMish, I guess.
By a physiological point of view, hormones cause emotions: "emotions were
defined as RESULT of an hormonal secretion".
By a psychological point of view, emotions cause hormonal secretions.
"Emotion [...] can CAUSE diffused somatic alterations: [...] adrenaline
secretion [...] and other visceral reactions".
The MOQ solution is ....
Let's imagine the encounter of two biologic individuals.
Something like:
HIM
1) - sensation. "Wow, what a beautiful girl!"
2) - hormonal reaction. "I feel the urge to have a relation with her. I'll
send her a pheromone".
3) - pheromone message."I'm just the man for you, babe. I'm vigorous, young,
healthy...."
HER
4) - sensation. "What an excellent pheromone! surely from a great boy!"
5) - hormonal reaction. "Now I'll answer with the best pheromone I can!".
6) - pheromone message. - CENSORED
(btw, just as I don't want to seem like a sexist, you can change the two
roles as you prefer :-)
This is what happens in every biologic species. But in some species it
happens also:
HIM
7) - sensation. "She's mine!"
8) - hormonal reaction. "I'm happy! This is the best day of my life!"
My explanation of the encounter is:
There's a series of quality events. All these events are biologically
captured (sensation) and become static through an information exchanging
process.
For external messages, pheromones are the inorganic support (like a book for
a novel).
Messages sent on these supports have a static side: the biologic "code" that
makes it possible, for receiving VNOs, to decode the message coming from an
individual of the same species (like the Language of the novel).
There's a dynamic side: the message itself (the novel).
The static result is a (biologic) behavior.
For internal messages we have a similar situation, where hormones are the
support and the result is ..... emotion: supported by hormones, emotions are
the final "very refined" achievement of the whole process. A static result,
if confronted with the quality event itself, but biologically very dynamic.
It's a platypus to argue that endorphin and adrenaline cause happiness, or
that endorphin and adrenaline are produced by happiness. In nature, emotions
and hormones are two different aspects of the same event, seen by different
points of view.
We don't know if the emotional reaction (8) is present only in
humans.Probably other mammals have emotions too, but I think that only
humans developed complex social patterns to have the possibility to
achieve stronger emotions in different ways.
This could be the difference between human social patterns and beehives.
Like beehives our social patterns of course have the goal to solve biologic
problems, but also we feel emotions in it. I love Italian food. Do bees love
the flowers?
> And so how does all of this relate to the
> Giant?
>
Well, the original question was: "What Makes a City Alive?". I investigated
the original values of social patterns. Emotions are IMO the ultimate
biologic values (the best reason to live) and the primal social values (the
basic reason to stay together). On the basis of emotions, social patterns
evolved from simple behavior to Giants, creating new ways to achieve
emotions. Richness. Celebrity. Power. That's why humans "replaced the need"
for pheromones: they don't make you famous, while celebrity can give you
more emotions.
I think that the knowledge of the fundamentals of the Giant is helpful to
understand its behavior, and consequently to make us live our social self
not only as passive "cells".
tks.
Marco.
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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