Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Body as "environment"

I happened to see this Go Animal newsletter entry this morning, beautifully written, a plea to adjust the viewing goggles on existance to include the human body in context instead of as object.

I agree, and would go a step farther.. the human body can be viewed as an "environment" built by the nervous system, nervous system "clothing," an organic little "antigravity space suit" it builds through which to negotiate its way through life on the earth planet. Some antigravity suits need more help (maintenance from without, from other people) than others..

How can I say this? Because epiblast gives rise to ectoderm. Ectoderm makes mesoderm, which turns into many many things in the body. Various stages of ectoderm make various levels and types of mesoderm, even the body's endoderm (the original hypoblast or endodermic layer is used to build amniotic structures)in addition to its own infrastructure, i.e., germ cells, brain, spinal cord, nerves and skin. It's all in Gray's if anyone cares to check. Each human nervous system is a community builder with an eye on its own future.