What If Peirce and Luria Had Access to Modern Neuroscience?

Counterfactual Exploration: What If Peirce and Luria Had Access to Modern Neuroscience?  

Decolonial Neurocience OHBM 2025 Fesbe Sbnec SfN icmpc18

 Charles S. Peirce + Tensioned Selves and the Damasian Mind  

Peirce’s Original Contribution:  

- Founded semiotics, proposing that all thought is a process of semiosis—signs generating interpretants (meanings).  

- His triadic model (Representamen → Object → Interpretant) framed cognition as dynamic and relational.  

With Modern Tools (EEG, NIRS, fMRI, SpO₂):  

- Semiotics Becomes Biosemiotics:  

  - Each sign (word, image, symbol) would be mapped to specific neural metabolic patterns (tensioned selves).  

  - Example: The word "justice" could trigger insula activation (fMRI) + increased heart coherence (SpO₂) + gamma waves (EEG)—quantifying its "interpretant" biologically.  

- Dynamic Interpretant = Physiological Response:  

  - The "final interpretant" (Peirce’s ultimate meaning) would be measurable as **homeostatic recalibration** (e.g., dopamine release after resolving cognitive dissonance).  

- Applications:  

  - Mental Health: "Semiotic therapy" to rewire traumatic associations via biofeedback-guided meaning reconstruction.  

  - AI Alignment: Training LLMs to avoid neurotoxic sign-combinations (e.g., hate speech that spikes amygdala activity).  

Alexander Luria + Apus and Human Quorum Sensing  

Luria’s Original Contribution:  

- Showed how culture shapes neuroplasticity (e.g., Soviet peasants developing abstract reasoning via literacy).  

- Pioneered neuropsychology as a cultural-historical science.  

With Modern Tools:  

- Proprioception Extended (Apus) as Neural Synchrony:  

  - Rituals (dance, chanting) would be proven to induce hyper-synchronized EEG patterns, creating "collective minds."  

  - Urban design could optimize Quorum Sensing—e.g., parks reducing cortisol (NIRS) and increasing social trust.  

- Cultural Neurodiversity:  

  - fMRI studies comparing default mode networks in hunter-gatherers vs. digital natives, revealing how myths and tech reshape cognition.  

- Applications:  

  - Education: Classrooms adapting to students’ tensioned selves via real-time biometrics (e.g., adjusting light/rhythms to sustain focus).  

  - Policy: Laws evaluated by collective neuro-affective impact (e.g., does a welfare policy raise oxytocin levels in marginalized groups?).  

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Synthesis: A Missed (and Still Possible) Revolution


Biosemiotics if Peirce and Luria Had Access to Modern Neuroscience OHBM 2025 Fesbe Sbnec Sfn icmpc18

  

| Domain          | Peirce’s Upgrade                                     | Luria’s Upgrade                          | 

| Therapy          | Treating PTSD via semiotic biofeedback    | Culturally tailored neuro-rehabilitation  |  

| AI Ethics         | LLMs trained on neuro-semiotic safety     | Algorithms respecting cultural Quorum Sensing |  

| Urban Design  | Architecture optimizing sign-induced states | Cities as collective proprioceptive scaffolds |  

| Democracy     | Detecting neural polarization in real-time | Policies tested for neuro-cohesion        |  

Why This Matters Today  

We now have the tools to realize Peirce and Luria’s latent potential:  

1. A Science of Embodied Meaning (not just "brain activity," but how signs live in flesh).  

2. Biometric Democracy (policing Quorum-hijacking by algorithms).  

3. Neurocultural Rights (e.g., the right to cognitive environments that don’t fracture selves).  

Final Thought: This isn’t just retro-futurism—it’s a blueprint for 21st-century human flourishing. The question is: Will we seize it?  

Would you prioritize neuro-semiotic medicine, Quorum-preserving AI, or neurocultural education first?