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| 16.1 |
The human miracle |
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| Since the earliest times, the human body has been at once an object of fascination and mystery. At a quick glance, the internal world revealed during invasive surgery or because of some accident appears a sloppy package of jelly like masses: muscle, sinew, fatty paste, bone and blood. Yet upon closer investigation under a microscope, this mess suddenly reveals an almost incomprehensibly sophisticated network of tissue cells, specialized cells, information networks, proteins, tubes and mechanical muscular systems. | ||
| Like looking under bonnet of the most advanced car or machine you could imagine, there is a seemingly overwhelming complexity and delicacy- tens of Billions of neuron cells in our brain, nervous cells, specialized organs, glands, veins, sensory cells and chemical messages. | ||
| No wonder that medical science have struggled for so long to find some sort of comprehendible pattern and overall structure to the body . Even now, there are widely different views as to the picture of the "whole" of the body, as opposed to the gradual and meticulous detailing of individual systems and component parts. | ||
| Modern western medicine has developed their knowledge magnificently since the days a few hundred years ago when doctors would "bleeding" people to get rid of illnesses, or chop off infected arms and/or legs with crude instruments. Now surgeons use super sharp knives to precisely cut open people with a good chance of recovery on a regular basis even for relatively superficial requirements such as elective facial surgery. | ||
| Eastern medicine has historically taken a different approach, trying instead to identify the synergies between the parts to understand the whole. Very few parts of eastern medicine focuses on an individual part of the human body without attempting to understand its relationship with the whole- even the relationship of say a cure to the whole. To some eastern medical practices, the traditional western medical obsession of cutting people open represents a greater threat to overall well-being than the proposed cure. Unlike traditional western medicine, eastern medicine tends to focus first on the mental and "energy" influences, rather than the symptoms. | ||
| Both approaches have resulted in tremendous discoveries and understandings. The fusion of the two approaches is now recognized globally as one of the greatest advances in medicine- the usage of Eastern philosophies and Western precision techniques in fighting disease and medical ailments. | ||
| Yet to both Eastern and Western philosophies, the concept of the mind has remained an elusive prize model of practical coherence. There remains no clear understanding on precise terms of a working model of what physically the mind is and how it functions in life and possibly in death. | ||
| 16.1.1 | What makes me human? | |
| However complex our analysis, however complex the terminology used in human medicine and science, when we consider the human miracle, we are talking about ourselves. | ||
| You are a human being. You are a living and breathing organism. You are on planet Earth. You have limbs, you have eyes. You have emotions. You have thoughts. You have pain. You have sickness. You have change. | ||
| Some of our most basic questions in life- those that start with why are related to the human physical being-what makes me human? | ||
| These include such essential related questions such as what am I made of?, why am I physically like the way that I am?(why am I, I?), where did I come from? how was I made?, how do I function? | ||
| Science and medicine have been the pioneering fields of knowledge providing stronger answers to the physical self- the living and breathing human you. | ||
| Beyond the simplified philosophical answers of the various religions of the world as to the purpose of our creation and position in life, it has been up to the pioneers of medicine to explain the basic physical answers to the collective questions of what makes me human? | ||
| In more recent times, the tremendous advances in genetic analysis and genetic and cellular medicine has resulted in better treatment for health and surgery, as well as systems for sustaining good health. As our awareness has expanded, so has our demand and consumption of more elaborate "antidotes" or "cures" for ill health. The cosmetics industry, pharmaceutical industries have grown from corner store chemists and members of a guild, to multi-billion dollar commercial ventures. | ||
| In America and Australia alone, the annual spend per household on pharmaceuticals regularly exceeds $1,500. This equates to about the standard annual wage of a person living in a third-world country. | ||
| 16.1.2 | What is true? what evidence is there that medicine works? | |
| Remarkably, the question that is least often asked in medicine has historically been what is true/false claims and what evidence is there that medicine works? | ||
| The method of using medical knowledge, procedures and pharmaceuticals based on established and clear facts is called " evidence based medicine". The important difference between classic medicine and evidence based medicine is that evidence based medicine is based on established knowledge of all the symptoms, all the cures, all the effects and side effects of a cure, compared to patchy knowledge in these areas of classic medicine. | ||
| The process is not unlike other pursuits of human engineering such as aircraft. Until the Boeing 777 was introduced, all other commercial airlines were based on years of experience of trial and error. The Boeing 747 wasn't even supposed to fly. It is an ugly duckling compared to the Concord. Yet, when they tested a large model in a wind tunnel they found the 747 to be arguably the most stable large aircraft ever built. Unfortunately, the accumulative method of trial and error- our nature method for learning is how science often approaches the human body. Some errors, can be fatal. | ||
| It may not surprise you then to consider that evidence based medicine represents just 5% of all the knowledge and procedures now used in both Western and Eastern medicine on the human body. In other words, for around 95% of medicine, only voluminous case history and isolated laboratory tests exist. Yet, neither prove the genuine nature of the recommended treatment. | ||
| A common source of proof for this massive problem is the tendency for law suits to emerge around five to fifteen years after certain drugs and supports come out into the market- amalgam full of mercury poisoning people teeth with fillings. IUD's, silicon breast implants, growth hormones for women etc. | ||
| 16.1.3 | Our knowledge on "what makes me human?" is far from complete | |
| Contrary to the growing confidence of geneticists, doctors and scientists that we know more than ever about the physical human system, our complete knowledge on "what makes me human?" remains critically incomplete. | ||
| At a philosophical level, we still do not have a practical working model of the connection to what has traditionally been termed "the spirit", or "soul", the mind, the thoughts and ideas we call I, the conscious thought, identity, then the physical brain and nervous system, to the endocrine system- the body. | ||
| The body mind and spirit question remains at the heart of the majority of philosophical quests, books of philosophy and theories of philosophy. | ||
| At the micro level, we still have not completed the mapping of DNA protein sequences yet. The Human Genome Project is rapidly developing, but at each new stage the question of cohesion- that is how the mapped human DNA code sequences together as a single program, or application ( e.g. grow hair, grow bone, be a boy, be a girl, lower the voice, etc) | ||
| At the same level, we have the vexatious question of the 85% plus of genetic material scientists have been unable to decode into any meaningful way- commonly called Junk DNA. Like neuroglia, like bone cells, scientists call the majority of what they do not know- JUNK. Yet is this forgotten and unexplored majority of human DNA- what makes me Human actually a very special place where on more investigation, we might find answers to the emergence of the human mind, the emergence of the human "soul"- or purity of awareness (UCA). | ||
| 16.1.4 | UCA can assist in answering the fundamental questions of "what makes me human?" | |
| As we stated earlier, the human body and brain represent in sheer components an awesomely complex biological machine, with billions upon billions of cells interacting. | ||
| However, as we have seen, UCA has enabled substantial and mind-boggling concepts to be distilled down to essential points- capable of being understood by the human brain. So it is with understanding the human body and brain- that we begin with one body, one brain, which in turn is made up of inter-linking systems. | ||
| We also seek to answer the questions so elusive until now- what is the human mind physically? and how does it function physically? Once we achieve this, we will discuss the operation of the human mind- how It operates. | ||
| In this way we hope to see the same synergies as observed at every other level of matter and existence- that the rules of existence remain the same, even for the human being. | ||
| 16.1.5 | We are not starting with a blank canvas | |
| Thanks also to the previous chapters we now can see that human beings are not the only self aware lifeforms that dream, think and communicate on planet Earth. Humans are, however, the most advanced in terms of knowledge, skills, language and social complexity. | ||
| If you have completed reading the previous chapters of UCA in sequence, then you come with a greater understanding of what it means to be human and all related questions. | ||
| That is because you come to have a greater appreciation of what the word "spirit" represents if considered just another name for UCA- Unique Collective Awareness. | ||
| If you have read Chapters 5 to 15 in sequence, then you know the connection between SPIRIT and BODY clearly. You will fully understand the meaning and implications of the words "all body is pure spirit in motion". | ||
| Again if you have considered reading UCA in the order and sequence of its chapters, then you have a greater appreciation of the link between MIND (awareness in motion) and SPIRIT (pure awareness), as well as MIND (awareness in motion) and BODY (awareness in motion, with purpose in motion). | ||
| Such would be your understanding that you know the fundamental answers to the riddle of MIND, BODY and SPIRIT. The only question relating to our physical selves would probably be, how do these related concepts operate for being human? | ||
| 16.1.6 | Chapter 16 and Chapter 18 | |
| To answer the question "what makes me human?", it is beneficial to consider the questions and answers in sequence- that is- to consider the largest questions in scope and implications first, followed by those in related life cycle ( i.e. birth, systems, ageing, function) and finally those relating to mind (who am I, why am I, I?, can I ever know I?) | ||
| Therefore this section (Chapter 16 Human Body, Birth and Mind Software) deals with the fundamental concepts that link the philosophical questions of BODY and BODY, BODY and MIND as well as BODY and SPIRIT. | ||
| Section 18 then follows as the next component of the sequence to focus on the specific answers and concepts surrounding the fundamental concepts of MIND and BODY, MIND and MIND, MIND and SPIRIT, SPIRIT and SPIRIT. | ||
| These concepts in Chapter 18 are then expanded from this base in the extended branch of knowledge contained in the Chapters of ME. (See Index of ME). | ||
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Copyright © 2010 UCADIA. All rights reserved. |
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