Biophysics Week 12 - Life and Living Systems
I know I'm a "living system" because...
as we discussed in class, a living system is always engaged in becoming itself, has cognition, is self-enacting, and is close to its environment. To be a system, organization must be in place and that organization must be present in order for me, a living system, to exist. The organization for living systems is an autopoietic organization, that is, continually self-producing. We are constantly becoming and we can see this process as metabolism in our own bodies. If we take a microscopic look, we can see that we are completely made up of individual cells. Those cells work together to form tissues. Those tissues create organs, which organs working together create organ systems. That organ system makes up an organism, and that organism, in turn, is me. Each level of organization is continually self-producing and I, as the whole organism, am cognitive of myself and my environment. My environment shapes me in how I live and how I fuel my cells, and I also shape my environment in my human behavior.
Biophysics and TCM
Biophysics is closely intertwined with TCM and also supports how TCM functions in measurable terms. TCM centers around the balance of yin and yang within the body, and when the two are out of balance, there is disharmony and disease. The cells and organ systems of our body work holistically, so when one organ system is malfunctioning, it affects all other systems within our organism. This is the same holism that is within TCM. How organ systems organize themselves and work together create a whole that is continually self-producing. This self-enacting is the body's self-balance of yin and yang. We are both matter and energy, both which can be measured and felt. In TCM, there is the concept of Qi, which means life force, but it also is the force that makes up and binds together all things in the universe. A living system is close to its environment, and it exists because the environment is exactly the way it is in order for the living system to be. Our cells are a living system within a bigger living system, us, and we are livings systems within a bigger living system, Earth. Qi takes form and gives us the energy we need to be such as the air, water, and food, but it is also formless and is the energy that flows within our bodies and throughout the universe. This is the connection between our own living systems and the environment.
as we discussed in class, a living system is always engaged in becoming itself, has cognition, is self-enacting, and is close to its environment. To be a system, organization must be in place and that organization must be present in order for me, a living system, to exist. The organization for living systems is an autopoietic organization, that is, continually self-producing. We are constantly becoming and we can see this process as metabolism in our own bodies. If we take a microscopic look, we can see that we are completely made up of individual cells. Those cells work together to form tissues. Those tissues create organs, which organs working together create organ systems. That organ system makes up an organism, and that organism, in turn, is me. Each level of organization is continually self-producing and I, as the whole organism, am cognitive of myself and my environment. My environment shapes me in how I live and how I fuel my cells, and I also shape my environment in my human behavior.
Biophysics and TCM
Biophysics is closely intertwined with TCM and also supports how TCM functions in measurable terms. TCM centers around the balance of yin and yang within the body, and when the two are out of balance, there is disharmony and disease. The cells and organ systems of our body work holistically, so when one organ system is malfunctioning, it affects all other systems within our organism. This is the same holism that is within TCM. How organ systems organize themselves and work together create a whole that is continually self-producing. This self-enacting is the body's self-balance of yin and yang. We are both matter and energy, both which can be measured and felt. In TCM, there is the concept of Qi, which means life force, but it also is the force that makes up and binds together all things in the universe. A living system is close to its environment, and it exists because the environment is exactly the way it is in order for the living system to be. Our cells are a living system within a bigger living system, us, and we are livings systems within a bigger living system, Earth. Qi takes form and gives us the energy we need to be such as the air, water, and food, but it is also formless and is the energy that flows within our bodies and throughout the universe. This is the connection between our own living systems and the environment.
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