Why Tolstoyan Art Functions Like a Zero-Knowledge Proof

Zero Knowledge Tolstoyan Art

I argue that true Tolstoyan art mirrors the structure of a zero-knowledge proof. Just as a cryptographic proof convinces a verifier without revealing the secret, a genuine artwork transmits the artist's felt emotions to the audience without exposing the specific situation that originally sparked them. This connection highlights how sincerity separates real art from its imitations.

"Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings, and also experience them."