Biophysics - Week Three

Would you support the development of a “bionic” person?

• I have mixed feelings about this.  I speak as a person with no physical disabilities so I don't fully understand what it is like.  Bionic technology used in prosthetics provides invaluable motor function for the physically challenged and enables them to be more independent.  However, politically it can have some serious consequences.  It would change the world of professional sports and could create a new type of discrimination for persons with bionic development.  Perhaps the most unsettling aspect would be its effect on the military.  Soldiers could then be modified into war cyborgs, further weaponizing human beings.  How it would affect someone's health and wellbeing is also interesting.  For example, how would bionic lungs affect the Metal element function in a human being?  How would Chinese medicine have to evolve to these changes?

Would your opinion be any different if this were for a military purpose?

• Like I mentioned before,  bionic development used for military purpose provides no benefits.  I would be more supportive of its usage for prosthetics but not for war.  For example,  if we engineer soldiers to become more powerful weapons, the development other more superior weapons would increase quickly.

Biophysics - Week Two

Acupuncture as effective energy medicine

• When I explain it to my clients, I like to describe acupuncture through how it works on the nervous system.  First it activates the parasympathetic nervous system to activate its healing state.  The needle makes a tiny incision in the body in order to bring attention to and prioritize a specific healing response.  The nervous system is always bombarded with all sort of sensory messages which makes it difficult for the body to prioritize healing.  Acupuncture gives VIP access by bumping whatever ailment needing treatment to the front of the line.

Conclusions on Kirlian photography

• I think it serves a valuable function and in the very least a curiosity to our electromagnetic field that we project.  It can invite an internal dialogue with oneself to ponder what is happening internally and how that influences our external projection.  Seeing auric colors in a photograph can help make that truth more tangible.

Human intent as it affects health

• One of my Daoist teachers once said, "there is no such thing as incurable disease, just incurable people."  Health should be defined not just by the length of life but by the quality of it.  For example, if an elderly man is living until 90 years old, yet he lives a sedentary life mostly isolated with a depressive mood, most would not consider him "healthy" per say..but on the other hand, a woman with breast cancer who transforms her lifestyle and diet resolves her relationships by letting go of grudges.  She then starts to live life fully now that she realizes how impermanent it is.  Once she accepts death she can truly start living.

Biophysics - Week One

• I know I’m a “living system” because…….
• I am a dynamic being that has a history of never-ending transformation.  I am dependent on my environment to nurture and change my existence.  The chemical and spiritual components of me are made up of the same building blocks of our planet earth.  In the Tree of Knowledge, living beings are characterized as being continually self producing.  If that is the case, machines with artificial intelligence are not far off from being able to reproducing themselves.  It gets tricky to think of advanced machines as being living beings.  But do machines have souls?  What makes a living being worthy of a soul? 

• Post a comment on one of this evening's discussions
• In my group, we discussed the article on brain to brain interfaces.  There have been experiments conducted to connect the brains of monkeys and rats in order to improve their problem solving skills as a team versus alone.  It is argued that this could be a significant advancement towards enabling disabled people to improve their motor skills and to live a better life.  To me the question of ethics comes to mind.  The power of this technology would obviously be abused if placed in the wrong hands like governing agencies for example.  The risk is more costly than the pay off.

Week Eight - Classical Physics

• Newton’s Three Laws and me
• When I think of Newton's three laws of motion I remember the image of him sitting under the tree and a red apple knocking him in the head.  That image will be forever cemented in my mind, however I haven't thought much about the laws since.  Newton's first law, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object remains at rest until compelled to move by a force.  Therefore the state of motion would change based on an influential force.  Newton's second law, addresses the cause and effect relationship between force and motion in the equation        F = ma.   Lastly, the third law is for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Metaphysically I can relate to his laws since their ideas influence me on how I try to live my life.  I feel that the reason I want to practice Chinese medicine to is to help make a positive difference in my community, that which I am compelled by a spiritual force inside of me.  
• Our “Energy Efficient” Culture
• Today more than ever, there is weighted pressure to develop more sustainable methods of energy as our world's resources become depleted by the minute.  In thermodynamics, the first law states that the total energy content of the Universe remains constant, never being created nor destroyed but only transformed.  This idea becomes hard to grasp when our current energetic resources are becoming scarce.  It could be that we need to change our methods for powering our societies.  I think that we also need to look at how we waste energy.  If we modified our consumption then we wouldn't be in this predicament so soon.  American culture promotes abundance and therefore waste.  There needs to be a cultural shift towards energy efficiency in order to see some change.
• Descartes has a lot to answer for!
• It makes me wonder how it would be like to travel back in time and meet Descartes himself and have a meal together.  Our opposing views and opinions would definitely make an interesting conversation!  I wonder how he came to the conclusion that we are separate from nature.  It would be hilarious to take him on a camping trip to Big Sur.  Maybe he would be so moved by the beauty of our California coast that he would begin to think otherwise ;). 

Week Seven - Chaos Theory

• “Ordered chaos” – does this sound familiar?
• When I think of "ordered chaos" I am reminded of the time I rode my bike through a busy intersection in Hanoi, Vietnam.  There were seemingly hundreds of motorbikes breezing past me, coming from all sort of directions.  When I hesitated, afraid I would crash into someone or something, I inadvertently disrupted the chaotic flow and almost caused a crash!  It wasn't until I surrendered with trust, focused only on my path that I managed to make my way through unharmed.  Eventually I found my rhythm with the chaos.

• Fractals as patterns of complex systems
• Thinking about fractals brought up my curiosity about snowflakes and how much they are based on fractal geometry.  Snowflakes are formed from falling through highly humid cold air.  The formation process of snowflakes aren't exactly fractal based and the structure themselves aren't perfectly symmetrical.  What is interesting is that fractals can closely approximate real snowflakes, like 95%-99% close!  This relationship is very interesting yet unknown as to why there is such a similarity.

• Consciousness out of chaos?
• What I discovered through my experience biking in Hanoi was that surrendering to the chaos was much less disruptive that going against it or moving with hesitation and doubt.  Perhaps that is part of spiritual awareness that we can discover from chaos theory.  Somethings although undesired are bound to happen.  Although it is unpleasant to think of forest fires as a necessary outcome in order to allow for more space for growth. 

• Conduct one of these "cool experiments" and write up your conclusions in your blog
• I performed the "rubber pencil" experiment and was underwhelmed unfortunately.  There was suppose to be a strobe light effect cause the pencil to look curved versus straight.  I did see a slight curve but it wasn't as obvious when done in front of a desktop monitor.

Week Six - Vibrations

• Are all vibrations “good”?
• Vibrations can be good or bad.  Good vibrations can feel good and can calm us.  They are the cause of why the when the sea water hits the shore cause a wave.  However, powerful vibrations can cause monstrous tsunamis that can wipe out over a million lives. "Bad" vibrations can cause earthquakes that can damage structures and kill people.  In that sense they cause very undesirable effects.  It is the low frequency vibrations from 1 Hz to 10 Hz that can do this. I think the main takeaway  is not to take them lightly. 
• Resonance in my world
• Resonance in my world is the same as practicing yogic chanting.  The teacher will chant an Om that will set the tone for the rest of us to join in and chant with resonance.  When we chant in harmony its a beautiful feeling that makes me feel connected to everyone in the room.  I can feel the vibration of the sound in my body giving me a very calming and grounded feeling.
• Connections I can make between Energy and Qi
• Energy is one of the characteristic functions of Qi.  What Qi is encompasses much more than just what energy is.  The five functions of Qi is to warm, to transform and transport, to contain, and to protect the body.  In that way, energy is like Qi because it does take energy to warm the body, to transform and transport bodily fluids, to contain substances, and to protect the body.  However, energy in Western terms is the power derived from physical or chemical resources.  The importance of Qi is its function rather than it's material or tangible form.

Week Five - Symmetry and Sacred Geometry

• My (a)symmetrical world
• My world is definitely asymmetrical more than it is symmetrical.  It's a constant battle to live in harmony and balance with society and nature.  I believe Western society promotes living more asymmetrically since advertisers sell ideas of individuality and uniqueness as paramount.  Social responsibility and connection to community are not popular ideas to sell products since they don't plant a seed of need within the consumer.  As idealistic as I am, I'm well aware that I live much selfishly than my ancestors.  Being American, I am sold the idea that I am an individual with the privileges given to me that aren't given to citizens of other countries.
• Just what does this "CP violation" really mean?
• CP violation in my inexperienced understanding, is the balance of matter with anti-matter.  If Nature treated matter and anti-matter the same then the world would be CP symmetric.  If not, then there would be a CP violation.  If I remember correctly, CP violation occurs most often than CP symmetry.  In order for this to be true then we would discover all the anti-particles accumulated after the big-bang.
• Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?
• There are many connections between Sacred Geometry and physics.  One connection is the concept of fractals that Benoit Mandelbrot developed showing beautiful organic shapes that are complex.  They can correspond to natural processes such as how babies and plants grow, the weather and structures of space and time.  The symmetry of snowflakes and fractals are 95-99% alike.  Early sacred geometrists were pondering the same concepts that physicists debate about today.  In theory, they both attempt to explain the supernatural.