An Animal in Search of Stimulation for Pleasure and Need
An Animal in Search of Stimulation for Pleasure and Need
Two Stories on the Forces that Drive Us Toward Art and Aesthetics
The chapter begins with the most basic driving forces behind the aesthetic impulse: the human animal’s ecological living conditions and our ultimate species characteristics as neophile and stimulation-seeking carnivore and food opportunist. Humans turn calorie intake into aesthetic activity, exploration, and play, instead of sleeping up to 16 hours a day as the big cats do after a successful hunt. Our stimulation-seeking nature and the concept of the optimal stimulation level (OSN) are mandatory for understanding the aesthetic impulse, that is, how and why the aesthetic forms change and develop, and why we are motivated toward art and aesthetics both as a species and as individuals.
Keywords: motivation, need, neophile, optimal stimulation level, OSN, play, pleasure, stimulation-seeking
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