To Understand Your Body You Need To Understand Life So Start By Asking Questions

A passing conversation, whilst walking the dogs with family and friends.

Darian: “Are you taking photos of nature with your iPhone?”

FitOldDog: “No, I’m jotting down a thought for my blog.”

Darian: “Will you share it with me?”

FitOldDog: “Sure, I was writing, ‘Life is sculpted emergence,” and then I thought, “but who is the sculptor?” So I later posed this question to Darian.

Darian: “I think it is the elephant.”

FitOldDog: “Brilliant [as a metaphor for the wave-particle duality of light, and the like in modern Physics]. I should have thought of that!”

Hi folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Biology stores vast amounts of energy in structure, in which is hidden knowledge of effective responses to environmental conditions of the past, including wind (leaf folding to reduce drag in high wind), rain (water proofing and effective water release to save branches from breaking), directed surface (to collect sunlight), little pores, stomata (to regulate water evaporation and the tension in the leaf needed to hold it’s form), and a layer of cells near the base of the leaf, ready to die on command when it is time for the tree to shed those leaves in the fall. You think that you understand an oak leaf? Really! Photo by FitOldDog.

In order to keep an aging body moving you have to move smart, as force becomes decreasingly effective, necessitating increased body awareness through the development of improved understanding of your mind-body.

If you wish to understand the Universe, and your place in it, you are forced to use the tools available, one of which is scientific disciplines, such as Biology, Physics, and Mathematics. In order to understand Biology it is essential to master Anatomy, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Chemistry, and the like. But to understand Chemistry, you will need a grasp of Physics, for which Mathematics becomes the key to comprehending Quantum Mechanics, whilst for Biochemistry (the Chemistry of Life) you have to study Physiology, Histology, Immunology, and many more. Then you have to tie all of this together with the aid of Network, Information, Chaos, Complexity, and other grand theories. Life, however, is the ultimate chemical, structural, social and electrical engineer, bioinformatician and adaptive strategist, and it just takes all these things in it’s stride, without recourse to our artificial, ephemeral and sometimes ego-driven ‘scientific ‘disciplines.’

This all reveals a simple fact – no one truly understands how the body works, we each know bits and pieces. Like the blind Indians and the elephant, we have to pool our resources by listening to others, and even then the picture will remain incomplete for eons.

But don’t give up, do the best you can, and get to know your body, and when a doctor, physical therapist, or even FitOldDog, says they know what is going on, take it with a pinch of salt, nod your head, seek other opinions, and study your condition.

Educated awareness provides the most effective road to reducing sports injuries and enjoying an active old age. Be a healthy, growing and constantly learning skeptic.

-k @FitOldDog