One of the important keywords is "cohesion." Even if we take our bodies apart, we cannot find "life." Therefore, we view the source of the power that holds them together and drives them as the "power of cohesion."

For example, the "death of a Paramecium bursaria." The Paramecium bursaria is a single-celled ciliate about 120 μm in length that lives in lakes and ponds. It hosts hundreds of green algae (Chlorella) symbiotically within its cell; when it dies, the cell collapses and the Chlorella are expelled.

The atoms, molecules, and protein compositions that make up a living Paramecium bursaria and a dead one are almost the same. However, at the moment of death, the "activity of the Paramecium bursaria" is lost, and it ceases to be "life."

"While alive, there is life as a unified movement, and cohesion is occurring. When it dies, the cohesion that held life together unravels and diffuses. This is the same for both Paramecium bursaria and humans."

What the "death of a Paramecium bursaria" teaches us is the perspective that "we are not so much a mass of matter as a process that exists temporarily as a balance of constant cohesion and diffusion."

This perspective of "cohesion" is also said to be important in understanding the relationship between music and life.

"AI is becoming adept at statistically processing past data and approximating forms. However, the essence of music is that it is an expression of the 'pulsation of life.' Even if AI reproduces a sequence of notes only externally, it cannot be called Bach."

The concept of "cohesion" serves as an opportunity to re-envision this "pulsation of life" not as a mere mystery, but as something that bridges the subjective and objective, the body and the mind. And that can serve as a new starting point for interdisciplinary questioning of life itself.

Cohesion has a "directionality," which is deeply related to what we call "individuality" or "character." The catalyst for reaching this idea was the "Taiheki theory" proposed by Haruchika Noguchi, the founder of Noguchi Seitai.

About 10 years ago, I underwent major surgery. At that time, I felt strong doubts about the Western medical approach that defines a single averaged standard as "health" and regards anything deviating from it as "disease." Learning Noguchi Seitai during the recovery process led to a shift in my thinking.

"Humans do not use their bodies evenly. The way they are biased differs from person to person. Some people lean against the back of a chair when tired, while others do not. Such biases in unconscious movements are thought to indicate that person's unique 'directionality of cohesion.'"

In other words, individuality is not just a psychological attribute, but nothing other than the "form of cohesion" that appears as a bias in how the body is used. That directionality appears consistently throughout a person's behavior.

Isn't that the very reason why a person is "who they are"?

He says that his attitude of not being bound by fields is supported by dialogues with experts in various fields. For example, dialogue with his father, a mathematician whom he calls his "best friend."

"I still talk with my father regularly, especially when I feel stuck. Through those dialogues, my thoughts and my position within the university organization become organized. My vision clears, my attachments and emotions fall away, and a sensation of looking down from above the clouds arises."

"Actually, the essence of mathematics lies in what cannot be objectified. As Grothendieck said, there is first a continuous inner landscape. 'Mathematical formulas' are merely one of the languages to express that. I think dialogue is where these pre-linguistic images themselves are conveyed."

Each word he spins has a power like a sermon. Supporting this "Niitsuma World" is an "interdisciplinary" perspective that transcends the boundaries of humanities and sciences.

Inspired by Gustav Leonhardt's performances in Japan, he studied the harpsichord, an early instrument, during his university years. He was also moved by Toru Takemitsu's "Eclipse" and took up the shakuhachi and Satsuma biwa.

Meanwhile, at the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology, he worked on research such as natural language processing using artificial intelligence (AI). He had a strong interest in programming and also faced the challenge of reproducing basso continuo—the improvisational performance of the Baroque era—using computers.

What is improvisation? What is generation?

These questions have remained consistently at the center of his interests since then.

"Since I was a child, I've had an obsession with specific sensations and feel like I've lived chasing them. For me, research was something I did because I wanted to understand those sensations. It was a back-and-forth between sensation and concept."

What is originally called "science" also originates from the subjective sensations and intuitions of pioneers. Nevertheless, in modern times, those sensations have been lost, and objectivity alone has become the goal.

For example, the handwriting analysis of Johann Sebastian Bach using AI that he worked on during his doctoral program. At the time, regarding Bach's handwriting, there was the question of whether it was an autograph or a transcription by his wife or disciples, and that determination was left to the craftsmanship of a very small number of experts.

So, he analyzed the handwriting using image processing and machine learning methods and confirmed that Bach's own handwriting could be identified from among 84 writers with an accuracy of about 87%. However, Bach experts do not consider it reliable based on these "objective" numbers alone. They "synthesize" an image of "reality" based on multifaceted evidence.

Then, what is "reality"? What does it mean for something to "make sense"? What does it mean to be convinced that a certain handwriting belongs to Bach?

These questions lead to the research on "cohesion" and the question of "what is life."

"Cohesion," which can be seen as a perspective for reintegrating the division between mind and body, may be a guidepost for breaking away from today's brain-centered society.

In a society where efficiency is increasingly demanded due to the advent of AI, humans are strengthening their tendency to prioritize average "correct answers" thought out only with the "head." But humans are not creatures of the head alone. Each of us has a unique "body," and the head is also just a part of the body. Returning to such a perspective and questioning the very nature of society may be what is most needed now.

There is an event that gave deep insight into these thoughts. It was while he was studying in the UK. He named a reddish-brown pigeon that often visited his garden Chabo. One day, however, it could only use one leg. Perhaps it was an accident. Even so, Chabo himself did not seem to mind. What about a human?

"In modern society, only consciousness is emphasized, and the animal aspect of humans has become dull. First, to notice this disharmony. Otherwise, no matter how much logic you spin, many of the social problems that exist today will not be fundamentally solved."

"Regard consciousness (the mind) as the enemy of the mind; make the absence of consciousness (the mind) your mind."

Composition: Toru Tamagawa, Editor-in-Chief of Asahi Shimbun GLOBE+

Interview/Text: Nasuka Yamamoto

Photos: Hiromi Shinada