Your Genome Is a Prompt, Not a Blueprint
TL DNA isn't a fixed blueprint determining who you become. It's a resource library your cells interpret based on context, environment, and internal signals. This epigenetic understanding transforms how we approach constraints in creative work, treating them as prompts for emergence rather than instructions to follow.
Core Answer
Your genome functions as a prompt rather than a blueprint because:
Every cell contains identical DNA yet produces completely different functions based on epigenetic signals and environmental context
Cells make context-dependent decisions using genetic material as a resource library, not executing predetermined instructions
Epigenetic markers change throughout life in response to environment, behavior, and internal conditions
This prompt-based model applies to creative constraints, allowing emergence rather than mechanical execution
Why DNA as Blueprint Fails
I used to think DNA was destiny. You get your genetic code at conception, and the script writes itself for life. Blueprint language dominated everything I learned in neuroscience. The genome was the master plan, the architectural drawing determining what you'd become.
Then I started studying epigenetics.
Every cell in your body contains the same DNA. The neuron firing in your brain right now has identical genetic information to the cell in your liver processing toxins. Same code, completely different function. If DNA was a blueprint, this would be impossible. Blueprints don't allow for interpretive freedom.
The genome is a prompt.
Pattern I've observed: When scientists shifted from deterministic genetics to epigenetic understanding, the data showed monozygotic twins start life epigenetically indistinguishable, but with age they exhibit substantial differences in epigenetic markers. The environment shapes which parts of the genetic library get activated.
How Cells Interpret DNA
When you're creating something, you don't follow a prompt mechanically, step by step, like assembling furniture from a manual. You interpret it. You read the context, assess your situation, and pull from the resources needed for what you're building right now.
Cells do this with DNA.
Epigenetics works like someone taking a pencil and marking up a document. The marks are reversible. They change based on environmental signals, internal conditions, and what the cell needs to accomplish in its context. The genome provides lexical resources, a historically derived vocabulary cells use in their performative realization of self.
Your cells aren't executing instructions. They're making context-dependent decisions using genetic material as a resource library.
Cells integrate outside signals like growth factors with internal information like mitochondrial count. They assess probable future states, weigh costs and benefits, and decide in the presence of competitive decision-makers. Individual cells are smarter than we previously thought, making adequate decisions by treating the genome as a resource rather than a command.
Key insight: DNA provides possibilities. Context determines which possibilities get activated.
Applying This to Creative Constraints
I create large-scale Western Cubist paintings, and when I'm working on a commission, the client gives me constraints. Size limits, color preferences, thematic direction, spatial considerations for where the piece will live. I used to think about these as instructions I needed to follow.
Now I treat them as prompts.
When you receive a constraint as an instruction, you're looking for the correct way to execute it. There's a right answer somewhere, and your job is to find it and implement it faithfully. When you receive a constraint as a prompt, you're asking what possibilities it opens up. What becomes possible within these boundaries?
The difference resonates in the work. Instruction-following produces technically correct results with no life in them. Prompt-responding produces something discovered and created simultaneously, because you're navigating between what the constraints suggest and what wants to emerge organically.
The pattern holds: Constraints as prompts open possibility space. Constraints as blueprints close it.
The 90/10 Organic Discovery Process
When I start a major piece, about 90% of the process flows organically. I feed the client prompts into my mind, apply critical thinking, then meditate on a vision. The basic forms come to me naturally. I'm working with Platonic forms, trying to express complex images in their simplest foundational shapes humans recognize.
The last 10% is where I consciously intervene with artistic creativity to finish the painting.
The 90% organic phase doesn't feel like making choices in the conventional sense. It feels more like discovering what's present in the quantum energy field when I visualize the piece. I'm trying to simplify all the information as much as possible, similar to how an Amplituhedron encodes mathematical formulas for particle measurement in quantum physics.
This is what happens when you treat constraints as prompts rather than blueprints. You create space for emergence. You allow the work to pull you toward forms feeling inevitable once they appear, though they weren't predictable before they emerged.
Your genome works the same way. It doesn't determine what you become. It provides resources your cells interpret based on context, environment, internal state, and the goals they're navigating toward.
You're not executing a predetermined design. You're improvising within constraints, using inherited resources to navigate toward goals emerging through the process itself.
The parallel: Cells navigate emergence using DNA as a resource library. Artists navigate emergence using constraints as orientation points.
What Changes When You Shift Perspective
When you understand your genome is a prompt rather than a blueprint, your relationship with inheritance shifts. You're not trapped by genetic determinism. You're working with a resource library responding to how you engage with it.
When you understand constraints are prompts rather than instructions, your relationship with limitations shifts. You're not looking for the correct way to satisfy requirements. You're exploring what becomes possible within boundaries.
The best ideas feel discovered and created simultaneously because you're not inventing from nothing and you're not following a preset path. You're navigating through possibility space using constraints as orientation points, letting forms emerge feeling both inevitable and surprising.
This is how cells rebuild a salamander's arm with no individual cell knowing what a finger looks like. This is how creative collectives produce work belonging to everyone involved. This is how you move from mechanical execution to organic discovery.
Real-world application: The genome is a prompt. The client brief is a prompt. The canvas size is a prompt. The question is whether you treat them as instructions to follow or resources to work with.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is epigenetics and how does it differ from genetics?
Genetics is the study of DNA sequences you inherit. Epigenetics is the study of how environmental factors, behaviors, and internal conditions change which genes get activated or silenced, without altering the DNA sequence itself. These epigenetic markers are reversible and respond to context throughout your life.
If DNA isn't a blueprint, what determines how cells develop differently?
Cells make context-dependent decisions based on environmental signals, internal conditions, and the specific functions they need to accomplish. They treat DNA as a resource library, activating different genes based on what's needed in their particular situation and location in the body.
How do identical twins end up different if they have the same DNA?
Monozygotic twins start life with identical DNA and similar epigenetic markers. Over time, different environmental exposures, life experiences, behaviors, and internal conditions create different epigenetic patterns. This causes the same genetic code to be expressed differently in each twin.
What does treating creative constraints as prompts mean in practice?
Treating constraints as prompts means viewing limitations as resources opening up possibility space rather than restrictions narrowing options. Instead of looking for the single correct way to satisfy requirements, you explore what becomes possible within boundaries, allowing solutions to emerge organically.
How does the 90/10 organic discovery process work in creative practice?
The 90% organic phase involves feeding constraints into your mind, applying critical thinking, and meditating on a vision. Forms emerge naturally through this process. The remaining 10% involves conscious artistic intervention to refine and complete the work. The majority of the creative process feels like discovery rather than invention.
Does this mean we have no genetic predispositions at all?
No. The genome provides resources, tendencies, and possibilities. You inherit genetic material determining what's in your resource library. The epigenetic perspective means the environment and your choices influence which resources get activated and how they're expressed, not there are no inherited factors.
How does this apply to problem-solving outside of art?
The prompt-based approach applies to any constraint-based situation. Business requirements, technical limitations, time constraints, and resource restrictions work as prompts when you treat them as opening possibility space rather than narrowing to one correct solution. This allows for emergent solutions feeling both logical and surprising.
Key Takeaways
DNA functions as a resource library rather than a fixed instruction set, with cells making context-dependent decisions about which genetic resources to activate
Epigenetic markers change throughout life in response to environment, behavior, and internal signals, proving genetic expression is dynamic rather than predetermined
Treating creative constraints as prompts rather than instructions opens possibility space and allows organic emergence of solutions
The most effective creative process involves 90% organic discovery guided by constraints and 10% conscious refinement
Cells and creative practitioners both navigate emergence by using inherited resources (genome or constraints) as orientation points rather than deterministic commands
What constraints are you treating as blueprints when they'd work better as prompts?
Why Silhouette AF-655 Triggers Your Brain Differently
Something happens in your brain when you see deep brown. Benjamin Moore knows it. Their 2026 Color of the Year, Silhouette AF-655, is a rich espresso with charcoal undertones. It looks sophisticated. But sophistication is the surface story. Underneath, your visual cortex is processing this color differently than you might expect.
Your Brain Distinguishes Warm Colors More Precisely
Research from the National Eye Institute reveals something fascinating about how we perceive color. Humans have more distinct names for warm colors like browns, reds, and oranges than cool colors across all languages and cultures. The reason isn't linguistic. Brain activity patterns vary significantly more between light and dark warm hues than cool hues. Your propensity for distinguishing warm tones is rooted in how your brain processes color at a neurological level. Silhouette's espresso-brown composition engages these processing centers more actively than cooler alternatives. Your brain is working harder, creating more distinct neural signatures when you encounter this depth of warm tone.
Color Reaches Beyond Vision
Most people think color is purely visual. But 80 percent of our sensory impressions come from our visual system, and that visual information doesn't stay isolated in your occipital lobe. Research suggests the pituitary gland, responsible for body temperature, energy level, sleep pattern, metabolism, and sexuality, is sensitive to color stimulation. Silhouette's charcoal-espresso complexity engages multiple wavelengths simultaneously. This potentially influences the hypothalamus, a key brain region controlling hormone secretion and your body's self-regulation systems. Colors can affect your breathing, blood pressure, and even your body temperature. These are physiological responses, not aesthetic preferences.
The Shift Toward Darker Tones Makes Neurological Sense
Benjamin Moore's move from Cinnamon Slate to Silhouette represents more than trend forecasting. It reflects growing confidence in using colors that create stronger neural engagement. Brown triggers stability and grounding through ancient neurological pathways. Found most commonly in wood and earth, brown activates associations with nature that run deeper than conscious preference. For luxury spaces requiring both sophistication and psychological anchoring, Silhouette's burnt umber base taps into these evolutionary responses.
What This Means For Design
When architects and collectors choose Silhouette AF-655, they're selecting more than a paint chip. They're installing a color that creates measurable physiological responses in everyone who encounters it. The brain doesn't just see this color. It processes it through multiple pathways simultaneously, engaging visual cortex, limbic system, and potentially endocrine function. I've been exploring how art changes the physiology of the brain for decades. Color is one of the most direct tools we have for influencing neural states. Silhouette represents a cultural moment where deeper, more neurologically engaging tones are finally being recognized as sophisticated rather than heavy.
The spaces we create shape our internal states. Benjamin Moore's choice acknowledges that truth.
They Called It Pseudoscience Until We Measured It
They dismissed art therapy for decades. Then, researchers attached EEG monitors to participants. The data became impossible to ignore. I've watched the scientific community treat artistic healing practices with skepticism that borders on contempt. The demand for evidence seemed reasonable. The dismissal before investigation did not. But neuroscience finally caught up with what artists and therapists observed for generations. Brain waves don't lie.
When Subjective Experience Meets Objective Data
EEG measurements now reveal specific brain activity patterns during art creation. Different materials trigger distinct responses. Working with clay generates more delta wave activity than drawing with a pencil. Delta waves correlate with deep relaxation states. That's not interpretation. That's physiology. Research by Belkofer demonstrates significantly increased alpha and beta wave activity after painting and drawing sessions. These changes appear in both trained artists and complete beginners. Alpha waves indicate relaxed alertness. The kind of state where healing becomes possible.
The Default Mode Network Reveals Something Deeper
Here's where the neuroscience becomes fascinating. The Default Mode Network typically quiets when we engage with external tasks. It's the brain's self-referential processing center, active during introspection and identity construction. Yet aesthetic experience activates it. When someone finds visual art aesthetically moving, the DMN engages across domains. Paintings, landscapes, architecture. The network lights up in response to beauty itself, connecting aesthetic perception directly to our sense of self. This explains the profound inner response to art. It's not mystical. It's neurological architecture doing exactly what evolution designed it to do.
What This Means For How We View Healing
I create Western Cubist paintings based on biogeometric principles and quantum models because the science supports what ancient wisdom suggested. Form and proportion influence neurological states. The cultural shift I'm advocating requires this evidence. Not because art needs scientific permission to exist, but because dismissing measurable healing mechanisms costs people access to effective interventions.
When EEG technology validates that art creation changes brain wave patterns associated with relaxation and well-being, skepticism loses its foundation. The question shifts from whether art affects the brain to how we integrate this knowledge into healing practices. The answer determines whether we continue treating art as decorative luxury or recognize it as the neurological intervention the data reveals it to be. Measurement didn't create art's healing properties. It simply made denial harder to justify.
Visitors
"The rush isn't the finish line. Never has been. It's that wild, chaotic dance we do to get there. That's where the real pulse is, for me. When I lose track of hours and the world outside fades, that's when I know I'm truly alive. Time, see, it's not just ticking. It's the fuel, the currency I trade in. But it's a currency you can't hoard, can't save for a rainy day. You just spend it, pour it out, and hope you're pouring it into something that matters.
And creating? That's like inviting a stranger into your home. These ideas, these pieces, they come knocking. Some are quick visits, a flash of connection and then they're gone. Others linger, we build a rapport, we share secrets. Each one is a new relationship, and I let them in with an open heart, even knowing they won't stay forever.
When I dive into a piece, I don't hold back. It's all in, every ounce of me. That's the transaction, isn't it? My time, my energy, traded for the chance to bring something new into the world. We push and pull, the artwork and I, until it finds its own shape, its own voice. And then, there's that bittersweet moment, the goodbye.
I know, maybe it sounds intense. Maybe some think I'm a little too attached. But it's not the object, it's not the 'finished product' that fills me up. It's the journey, the shared moments. It's the conversations in the quiet hours.
"Reborn" is about ready to leave the nest. We've had some mornings together, that one and I. Coffee, quiet talks, the silent understanding that comes from creating side by side. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.
So now I'm looking at you, whoever you are, reading this. Where are you spending your time? What are you pouring yourself into?"
Dr. Theresa Bullard
If you know me then you know. I have spent the last 3 days painting and listening to Dr. Bullard. It’s a deep dive grasping the transformative shift from classical to quantum physics. As we are learning new information weekly I am still connecting the dots back to our first language gestures and how geometry is our foundational language. Bullard ties the metaphysical mostly from the alchemy point to what we now are discovering with quantum conciseness.
All this is what drives my cubist style of triangles. I am speaking to your DNA! Ha HA… Let me speak to you…..
I am trying to think and manage a way to share what I learn but I am not a writer. Be patient.
I have my base colors down for “REBORN”. It is really exciting in my environment currently as energy is flowing into what i am doing. I have no real knowledge where it comes from but I do take responsibility to get it down visually.
Thursday is WING NITE!
Saturday was leg day
Part of my weekend birthday celebration was being abel to train legs Saturday morning with my sister Stacey. It has been a little over a year since she got it together and decided to pass me up. Training and staying fit has been a major part of my life and I am so grateful to be able to share that with my sister now.
I’ve made so many crazy choices in my life, but that’s definitely a good one.
Feeling fit is a great feeling, but also a little self-care like a kick ass style always helps too. Chris over at MX barber is the man. I wanna say he makes me feel like a king when I’m there, but I don’t know what a king feels like I know what a wolf feels like, but I’ve never been a king.
I’m going to spend the rest of the day painting on this piece called “Reborn”. I started working on some Native American concepts back in February. Reborn is the first one to come to life.
Starting a new journey
I should be clear hear, I am no writer or attempt to be close to one. I am going to be intentional about being more open. Oh boy this could be messy. I did use some AI. My prompt was “Make David super fun and cool” I am still waiting on the answer. So it’s just going to be me here.
Today is my birthday and thought this would be a fabulous milestone. I wanted to be authentic so here is something: I really think I am funny! I don’t even know why but I do. So weird right?