16.2
The complexity of knowledge of medical science
 
  In considering the array of knowledge concerning the human body and its function, humanities greatest resource is its medical and scientific knowledge. Today, human beings have successfully accumulated millions of pages of information concerning the structure, relationships and functions of the human body.  
  To become qualified in 1st world countries as a medical practitioner, then a person must study thousands of pages of this knowledge over a period of between five and seven years. Medicine represents one of the most esteemed qualifications in all human societies. Those that know and understand the human being are seen correctly for their healing gifts- the accumulated knowledge of how to heal.  
16.2.1 The mind boggling array of new terms and concepts  
  If you have not studied medicine, or molecular biology, or any of the specialized fields of neurobiology and psychology, then many of the words to be described in this section will sound strange and alien to you.  
  In the study of the knowledge branch of human anatomy, there are over 200 discrete names for bones of the human body, hundreds of names for specialized tissue areas and hundreds more names for specialized relationships and processes (functions).  
  It is, without having struggled through it before, a bewildering array of new terms to learn, new relationships to understand.  
  If you have studied medicine and possibly remain active in practicing a healing art, then many of the terms in the following sections may be familiar to you.  
16.2.2 The complexity of relationships and knowledge  
  Even if you are a qualified representative of the medical profession, you would be one of the first to admit that even to an expert, the vast array of knowledge now available to western medical science is almost too much for one person to actively retain. It is why, after all, western medical science has split into more specialized branches of medicine.  
  Yet, if a person is to consider an injury to their foot, or a reason for why their heart rate is higher than normal, then this specialized knowledge in the hands of someone who is aware and has experience in using that awareness is very important. We rely on medical professionals to explain to us why we feel the way we do, what is happening to you and our loved ones and what we can do to heal, or avoid illness.  
  While we might say "my arm hurts", a medical specialist such as a radiologist may use technology known as an x-ray machine, or a magnetic resonance imager MRI machine to look past the tissue and specifically name a bone, type of bone that is broken and exactly what type of break it is. To most of us, remembering the specific names of each of our bones seems an unnecessary burden.  
16.2.3 The challenge to better know ourselves and contemporary human knowledge  
  The challenge therefore is to better know ourselves, by being able to comprehend the knowledge contained in the medical libraries of humanity, without becoming lost and fragmented by the mountains of knowledge and terms that exist.  
  We are not aliens outside the experience of nature. We are part of nature, just as we are part of the Earth and the solar system. Therefore, part of the solution to better understanding ourselves is seeing that patterns continue throughout all matter and all life.  
  This is the goal of this section, to bring together the enormous understandings of the previous sections and focus them from the human experience to better understanding our physical selves and the unique journey each human beings takes.  
     
 
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