Acchs Bio and Physics

Reproduction is the best and easiest way to know that we're living systems - we can actively make new life. Also our capacity to heal shows that we are autopoietic. Autopoiesis means that the system is both the producer and the product. Think of when we heal from a wound. Our body sends energy and nutrients to the site to regenerate what was hurt. We grow a scab and then new skin - we both produced these things, and yet the product is a part of us. We actively can regenerate which means that we are living systems.  Understanding biophysics helps us understand Chinese medicine. Biophysics looks at both the biologic and the mathematics in our universe and uses them to create a large picture or understanding. In this way we can see patterns and have a better grasp on the macrosystem in which we live. Chinese medicine is all about looking at the microsystem of our body and understanding how it interacts and responds similarly to the macrosystem. We talk about our bodies like we talk a...

Mostly I think the Fukushima disaster and its continued affects on the ocean are really tragic. The fact that there is still radioactive run off actively being spilled into the ocean is astounding and deeply depressing. I think that it is a powerful warning about what can happen at nuclear power plants. There are plenty of safety nets in place at nuclear power plants, but just like at Fukushima, unforeseen factors can render these safety nets ineffective. The fact that we are continually and slowly poisoning the ocean is indicative of humans irresponsible attitude towards our sources of energy and the planet. It is hard to imagine all the long term effects of Fukushima on the oceans, especially since the radioactive signature has reached across the ocean. I definitely don't think that we understand the implications of nuclear power technology on our world and society. Fukushima is the perfect example of this. Cleaner energy is important, but it seems like a huge risk to take. Is ou...

I think in this case, the western medical understanding of HIV and AIDS seems much more sophisticated than the TCM view - mostly because it it a relatively new disease. I thought the article about the man who was cured of HIV was fascinating, and I'll be really interested to see what sort of research continues in that vein. I think the use of the PreP treatments is like most things with health care - it is up to the patient to look at their life and see if it makes sense for them. I absolutely think there shouldn't be a stigma against these treatments though. Just like with birth control, a persons body is their own and it is up to them to decide whats best for them. I hope that there can be research done to decrease the side effects and potential damage - I feel like that would make things a little bit more clear cut. TCM can absolutely strengthen the immune system. It works on putting the body back in balance or harmony. When the body is working better, all functions improve...

E Prime How can we make our language less dogmatic? Taking out one verb?  Maybe this holds some truth. Will it's removal really help us understand better? I woke up this morning and tried to accomplish this, but it seemed too stilted, too strange. Perhaps we like certainty too much. Even now, I can barely think of ways to say what I mean without " be ,  am ,  is ,  are ,  being ,  was ,  were ,  been ."  I wonder if we could try this with other common phrases to see the result. What about not using the word "me/mine."? Would this lead to more confusion or a less selfish culture? Maybe both, but regardless, I can't really imagine it. "As above, so below" When I hear this I think of balance, but balance in a looser way than we're taught to think of it as. Balance in the fact that there is both order and chaos. Balance in terms of how a persons internal state affects their external body or environment. How what happens in the stars affects...

I was trying to think about how Newton's laws applied to motion in my life - what forces keep me in motion and what forces keep me still. I realized that these laws apply to the self motivated motion of living creatures in a very different way. While often when I'm at rest I do want to remain at rest, there is an internal force that gets me up and moving. And there are certainly times when I'm out and about doing things, that it would take some about of internal motivation to get me to rest. You cannot measure this internal force though, or really even describe exactly what it is. The second law - "the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force acting on it, and inversely proportional to it's mass," could also be applied in a way. How motivated, excited, or internally driven I am about something probably determines how fast I act on it. And if we think of mass as extra things I have weighing me down in my life, that would slow down the mo...

In many ways our understanding of cancer is very sophisticated - we know exactly what transcriptions factors are malfunctioning and how cancer cells differ from normal cells. However, our understanding also is very basic in many ways. We can't predict who will get cancer even with people who are exposed to the same carcinogenic substances or have the same family history. Even though in America we are detecting cancer earlier and more frequently, it hasn't changed the mortality rates. In a lot of ways, we have a long way to go in understanding why certain people get cancer and how to treat the cancer. Many times people go into remission, but years later the cancer comes back. We can therefore make the assumption that our doctors are not able to understand or cure the deep underlying causes of cancer. Like with every other disease, TCM looks at the whole person and does not reduce the disease down to the cellular level. It takes into account the emotions of the person, something ...

I think the reintroduction of the American Bison is important for several reasons. Firstly, it is helping to restore an important part of the ecosystem. Like the prairie dogs and rain, we have very little concept of how each creature in the environment affects the whole. The bison, being the largest mammal in the west, have a dynamic and important impact on the ecosystem. Secondly, the bison were an important and spiritual symbol to the Native Americans. White men killed them off partially to reduce their food supply. The bison was much more important than purely a source of food though, and was thought of a sacred animal. For a long time, white people have disrespected Native American culture and land. The reintroduction of Bison is hopefully being done in a way that honors and respects the sacred place this animal held in Native American culture. Thirdly, because this reintroduction has been relatively successful, it gives hope about restoring other ecosystems. When people have hope,...

Ordered chaos does sound very familiar. I think it's the refrain of every kid with a messy room. The piles of things may have no obvious order to them, but if you look for deeper patterns they are there. The order in the chaos may only be obvious to some though. I think with what we learned about fractals, all chaos has an element to order in it. The yin within the yang. And just like with yin and yang, order and chaos could not exist without the other. In fact, they are lifeless if the connection does not exist - without a speck of yin within the yang, and a speck of yang within the yin. If we think of chaotic systems as being alive, they must have this connection and interdependence between chaos and order. The idea of consciousness out of chaos can also be put in the terms of yin and yang. What the human brain perceives is so vast and complex, and so deeply chaotic - all the sounds, colors, smells, sensations, radio waves, psychic connections, etc that come at us constantly at ...