Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 15.18 The Piscatawaytor. A theoretical model of the human body based on the principle
of self-organization described in Sect.
3.1
x
The nonlinear dynamical model of the human body based on the Principle of
Self-Organization. The name BocaRatonator is suggested here (as indicated earlier)
to acknowledge the contributions that J.A.S. Kelso and his colleagues at the Florida
Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, have made in advancing the field
of the coordination dynamics of the human body. The Piscatawaytor (see below),
in contrast, is best considered as the theoretical model of the human body that
integrates, albeit qualitatively, the molecular (micro coordination dynamics),
cellular (mesocoordination dynamics), and physiological (macrocoordination
dynamics) descriptions of the human body (Figs.
15.16
,
15.18
).
y
The theoretical model of the human body comprising five basic compartments
(nervous, circulatory, endocrine, immune, and motor systems) dynamically
interacting with one another based on the
Principle of Self-Organization
(Ji 1991)
(see Fig.
15.18
).
As can be seen in Fig.
15.18
, the motor system (M) is placed at the center of the
tetrahedron, the simplex of the 3-dimensional space (Aleksandrov et al. 1984),
because motion is thought to constitute the most fundamental aspect of the human
body as indicated in the following quotation from Ji (1991, p. 144):
the fact that the M system must be relegated to the center of the tetrahedron in order to
effectuate the simultaneous contacts suggests the possibility that the most important
biological function of the human body is voluntary motions, including thought processes
(emphasis added). This conclusion places voluntary motions, which we all too readily take
for granted, at the center of our biological being. Is it possible that there is some deep
philosophical significance to this conclusion? Have we underestimated the fundamental
biological and evolutionary significance of our voluntary bodily motions?
(15.32)
