Existential Metabolism as the Architecture of Consciousness and Action

Each action — each Doing — emerges from a metabolic-existential self, a unique psychophysiological state that arises from the interaction between the living body, sensitive territory, adaptive intention, and the collective informational field. This self is not a fixed identity but a functional configuration of the Self, shaped by bodily tensions, respiratory patterns, circulating neurochemistry, and the perceived relational demand.

Existential Metabolism as the Architecture of Consciousness and Action

The Self is always a Doing shaped by a momentary metabolism.

The Self is the silent background from which Selves emerge as gestures in the world.

The Self: Respiratory Architecture of Doing

The Self only forms because there is a call from the field — a need perceived by the body in its relational environment. This call is mediated by an ancestral phenomenon: Human Quorum Sensing, a mechanism by which humans tune their internal states through shared neuroaffective signals: glances, voice tones, postures, breathing rhythms, and collective silence.

The Self is a frequency. It emerges when the living body recognizes a vibration in the field that calls for active presence.

When this quorum is perceived, the organism adapts its metabolism — breathing, tension, focus — activating the most functional self for that field of belonging. Doing ceases to be individual and becomes coherent with the group, the time, and the place.

Belonging as Activation of the Adequate Self

Human Quorum Sensing operates as a sensitive neurobiological field:

Insula and medial prefrontal cortex: detect social signals and modulate internal states.

Social vagal system (Stephen Porges): integrates facial expressions, voice, and body tone as safety and connection sensors.

Theta and gamma oscillations: enhance intersubjective synchrony in collaborative contexts (rituals, circles, chants).

To belong is to breathe in the rhythm of the other. It is to modulate the Self to welcome and be welcomed by the field.

Each Self Is Metabolism in Action

The Self is how the Self becomes gesture. This modulation is biochemical: changes in CO2, O2, pH, and respiratory rhythms shape neural plasticity. It is as if each breath sculpts a functional self: the "artist self," the "warrior self," the "caregiver self."

Rock-Paper-Scissors Dynamics of Functional Selves

Breathing guides which network dominates. The body, through breathing, selects the self that will lead the Doing.

Respiratory Rhythms as Access Keys

4-7-8: transition to creativity.

Box Breathing (4-4-4-4): intense focus.

Deep abdominal breathing: fosters return to center.

Breathing is how consciousness is modulated. Each respiratory cycle is a momentary architecture of the Self.

Philosophical-Cognitive Foundations

In the Triple Aspect Monism (Alfredo Pereira Jr.):

Matter = body

Energy = action

Meaning = integrated consciousness

In the Damasian Mind:

Interoception (feelings)

Extended Proprioception (Apus)

Exteroception (collective field)

The Self is the unified field. Each self is a functional avatar trained for a specific doing.

Belonging and the Illusion of Shared Information

Belonging arises from perceiving resonance with meaningful, sensitive signals. When disinformation is organized into emotionally coherent narratives, it simulates quorum. Even with false content, the body recognizes patterns and activates belonging.

The biological truth of the experience matters less than the perceived emotional coherence.

In this context, the group forms around a symbolic parallel field, creating an "illusory quorum." The body adjusts to it: it breathes, focuses, and acts according to the signals of this new field. Disruption occurs when reorientation becomes blocked: the individual resists leaving the illusory field for fear of losing belonging.

Selective Attention as Quorum Disruption

Selective attention — such as wearing headphones or digital hyperfocus — redirects perception away from the living field. Even when physically present, the body stops emitting compatible signals with the group. The belonging cycle is interrupted.

Absence of perception = absence of resonance = functional disconnection from belonging.

Pathologies and the Biochemical Breakdown of Tuning

Alzheimer’s Disease: alterations in the hippocampus and prefrontal areas compromise social recognition. Affective resonance dissolves.

Major Depression: decreased dopamine and activity in the default mode network. The individual fails to perceive welcome or integrate field signals.

Depression is a metabolic breakdown of belonging.

Integrated Synthesis

Ethical and Educational Implications

Neuroaffective education: teaching how to read and emit signals that restore authentic belonging.

Critical quorum technologies: promoting systems that encourage real tuning.

Relational clinical care: using sensitive signals (voice, smell, touch) as maps for recovering resonance.

Conclusion: To Breathe Is to Belong

Consciousness is a momentary metabolic ritual. The body responds to the field it lives in with an adequate self, adjusting its gesture to collective life.

The Self pulses in silence. The Selves dance according to the field.

The Self that allows itself to live through exchanges — transforms the world.

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