Week 14: Bionics & Our Biophysical Future

1. As a fan of science fiction films and television programs, it's almost impossible for me to imagine that a bionic person doesn't already exist. However, I do know that their are "bionic" parts that can be substituted for human body parts. I would support the development of a full body bionic "person" because I think the technology would help those in need of individual body part replacements.

2. If the bionic "person" was developed to take the "hits", or to search for injured persons in combat, or operate equipment that would otherwise be harmful to humans, then I would support the military cause.

Week 13: Energy Fields & Energy Medicine

1. The article "Functional Medicine, Energy Medicine, and TCM: A Powerful Integration" in Acupuncture Today publication, the authors state that "Energy medicine is information medicine, where energy is Yang & information is Yin. All inputs into our bodies are electromagnetic information, & assimilates those inputs as chemical/hormonal signals interpreted as Energy/Qi, Blood, Fluid, & Shen.

2. Incorporating the use of Kirilan's photography with CT scanners and or MRI could prove to be useful, as long as the interpreter has sufficient training and isn't biased about it's legitimacy. I think the latter barrier might take longer to overcome before it is actually implemented into Western Medicine.

3. The author of the article "How Positive Thinking Builds Your Skills, Boosts Your Health, & Improves Your Work", says that you will see more possibilities in your life while experiencing joy, love, & contentment. Conversely, your brain will close off to possibilities & then focus on fear, anger, & stress, while thinking negatively.

Week 12: Life & Living Systems

I am a living system because I satisfy the current established minimum criteria, comprised of organic atoms, chains, molecules that are morphologically and chemically diverse, which produce a diversity of reactions

Week 11: Synthesis

·       My E-Prime Day - describe your day, only using English Prime

The commuter traffic this morning was more congested than most Tuesdays.

The commuter traffic this morning appeared to be more congested than most Tuesdays.

The parking lot was fuller than usual this morning.

The parking lot appeared to be fuller than usual when we arrived this morning.

The streets of Oakland were unusually crowded before we went to class.

The streets of Oakland by comparison to last week, seemed unusually crowded.

Our first period teacher was organized this morning even though her bicycle had two flat tires.

Our first period teacher appeared to be organized this morning, even though her bicycles had two flat tires.

Our commute home was longer than usual, due to criminal activity related road blockades and accidents.

Criminal activity and traffic accidents appeared to be the cause of our lengthened commute time.

·       How might you synthesize eastern and western ideas in Physics?

This excerpt from the “Tao of Physics”, best represents how I perceive the synthesis of eastern and western ideas in Physics: “Chapter 2 – Knowing and Seeing A mystical experience, therefore, is not any more unique than a modern experiment in physics. On the one hand, it is not less sophisticated either, although its sophistication is of a very different kind. The complexity and efficiency of the physicist’s technical apparatus is matched, if not surpassed, by that of the mystic’s consciousness – both physical and spiritual – in deep meditation. The scientists and mystics, then, have developed highly sophisticated methods of observing nature which are inaccessible to the lay person. “- Fritjof Capra

Week Ten - Sacred Geometry and Fibonacci

·       "Should I take a short nap?" - what is your experience?

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Unfortunately, I have difficulty falling asleep, and wake often most nights, and have for most of my adult life. I don’t always feel as though I have a choice to take a nap - I doze off during class, while I’m studying, while I’m taking public transportation, while I’m waiting in line, and when I’m home.

·       "So, eat what you don't like.  That way, you'll certainly eat less, and only as much as you absolutely need to" - would you agree?

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I wouldn’t eat at all if I had to eat what I don’t like. I think I get the point – avoid indulgence.

Week 8: Classical Physics

·       Newton’s Three Laws and me

First Law: Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Also known as “Inertia” – this is the state of being I experience when I have too much to do – I can’t seem to move, without a motivation force urging me on. Often times the force comes in the form of food.

Second Law: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force acting upon I, and inversely proportional to its mass.

While I was skating on the ice, I received a blow from an oncoming backward skating individual traveling twice my speed. My body accelerated to travel at approximately half again my original speed due to the impact – which also knocked me down. Yes, I did see stars after hitting my head on the ice.

Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

It’s been quite some time since I played pool, but I can recall a time or two when I hit the cue ball and watched it strike another ball that ricocheted back off the edge of the pool table.

·       Our “Energy Efficient” Culture

There is much debate about this topic. Is recycling as efficient as we are told? Ask Penn & Teller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdNaajKExs

·       Descartes has a lot to answer for!

Taking on the topic of the existence of God is an enormous task. It’s fascinating to see how he attempted to do so with mathematics.

As a student of a medicine that is fundamentally holistic, Descartes’ premise that the mind and body are separate is obviously in contrast with our medicine. I would be inclined to study his philosophy more if were more in alignment with mine.

Week 7: Chaos Theory

“Ordered chaos” – does this sound familiar?

·       This is the expression I use to describe the state of my “Cozy Cottage”. It’s perfectly stable in this state. I know where 75-80% of my belongings are located. When I decide to tidy up and create less chaos, I can’t find my formerly placed articles.

·       Fractals as patterns of complex systems

Fractals are mesmerizing. I imagine they could be hypnotic and used as a tool for therapeutic use.

“A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Driven by recursion, fractals are images of dynamic systems – the pictures of Chaos. Geometrically, they exist in between our familiar dimensions. Fractal patterns are extremely familiar, since nature is full of fractals. For instance: trees, rivers, coastlines, mountains, clouds, seashells, hurricanes, etc. Abstract fractals – such as the Mandelbrot Set – can be generated by a computer calculating a simple equation over and over.”

·       Consciousness out of chaos?

“We are constantly taking in new and uncharted experience at every waking moment. This is chaos. It is the interplay of chaos and order in the brain’s actual functioning that creates the stream of consciousness as mediated by the hippocampus.” I think of the brain and the mind as being different and this bridges a gap in my thinking about the two.

·       Conduct one of these "cool experiments" and write up your conclusions in your blog

I wanted to do the “Cat” experiment, but I don’t have carpet in my cottage, so I chose the utensil experiment. The only utensil that produced anything that I hadn’t noticed before, was the spoon. The concave front of the spoon produced an upside down image of my head and the opposite for the convex back of the spoon. I didn’t get the knife to produce anything but a mirror image of the objects it reflected.