alternative models of the body: opening science to cross-cultural dialogue
TRANSCRIPT
Alternate Models of the Body: Opening Science to Cross-Cultural Dialogue
Alternate Models of the Body: Opening Science to Cross-Cultural Dialogue
Neil Theise, MDDepartments of Pathology and Medicine (Digestive Diseases)Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical CenterNew York City
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
neiltheise.com
neiltheise.wordpress.com
Beyond Cell Doctrine Complexity Theory Informs Alternate Models of the Body for Cross-Cultural Dialogue
Theise ND.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009; 1172: 263-9.
Mechanisms of Yogic Practices in Health, Aging, and DiseaseKuntsevich V, Bushcell WC, Theise ND. Mount Sinai J Med. 2010; 77: 559–569.
From the global to the local: possible pathways for the transduction of Indo-Sino-Tibetan cognitive-behavioral practices into site-specific, tissue-regenerative effects.
Bushell WC, Spector NH, Theise ND.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009; 1172: 74-87
Toward a unified field of study: longevity, regeneration, and protection of health through meditation and related practices.
Bushell WC, Theise ND.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009; 1172: 5-19
neiltheise.com
neiltheise.wordpress.com
also: Researchgate, Academia.edu
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies
A Complexity Primer
The Universe as Complex System
Biofields and Boundaries
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies
A Complexity Primer
The Universe as Complex System
Biofields and Boundaries
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies “Western” Biology and Medicine
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies “Western” Biology and Medicine
= “Cell Doctrine”
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies “Western” Biology and Medicine
= “Cell Doctrine” Non-”Western” traditions
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies “Western” Biology and Medicine
= “Cell Doctrine” Non-”Western” traditions
…”nested” bodies
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies
A Complexity Primer
The Universe as Complex System
Biofields and Boundaries
Complex Adaptive Systems:
1Lewin R, Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos. 2nd ed. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press; 2002.
2Johnson S, Emergence. New York NY: Scribner; 2001.
1,2
Complex Adaptive Systems:Interacting individuals that,
if they fulfill 4 criteria,organize themselves from the bottom up,
into larger structures, which appear planned from the top, downward…
Complex Adaptive Systems:Interacting individuals that,
if they fulfill 4 criteria,organize themselves from the bottom up,
into larger structures, which appear planned from the top, downward…
Complex Adaptive Systems:Interacting individuals that,
if they fulfill 4 criteria,organize themselves from the bottom up,
into larger structures, which appear planned from the top, downward…
BUT ARE NOT!
Complex Adaptive Systems:Interacting individuals that,
if they fulfill 4 criteria,organize themselves from the bottom up,
into larger structures, which appear planned from the top, downward…
These structures are referred to as“emergent self-organization”
and are ADAPTIVE.
Complex Adaptive Systems:• Numbers matter
Complex Adaptive Systems:• Numbers matter
• Negative feedback loops
Complex Adaptive Systems:• Numbers matter
• Negative feedback loops
• Interactions are local without global sensing
Complex Adaptive Systems:• Numbers matter
• Negative feedback loops
• Interactions are local without global sensing
• Low level randomness
Complex Adaptive Systems:• Numbers matter
• Negative feedback loops
• Interactions are local without global sensing
• “Quenched disorder”
1Theise ND. Exp Hematology 20032D’Inverno M, Theise ND. BCMD 20043D’Inverno M, Theise ND, Prophet J.
In: Potten C, Wilson J, Clarke R, Renahan A: Tissue stem cells: Biology and applications
Implications of Cell Lineagesas Complex Adaptive Systems
Mass extinctions.
order
disorder“chaos”
disorder“chaos”
complex adaptive
systemsorder
Implications
The price of adaptation,
i.e. of LIFE,
is DEATH
Cross Cultural Views of Bodies
A Complexity Primer
The Universe as Complex System
Biofields and Boundaries
Hierarchies of complex systems…
Theise. Nature, May 2006
Hierarchies of complex systems…
thing vs. phenomena
depends on scale of observation
ChRISTOPHER SWANN
Hierarchies of complex systems…
thing vs. phenomena
depends on scale of observation
Hierarchies of complex systems…
thing vs. phenomena
depends on scale of observation
=> COMPLEMENTARITY
Theise. Nature, May 2006Theise & Kafatos, Complexity, 2013
Complementarity and the Copenhagen InterpretationQuantum phenomena exhibit complementary aspects that are revealed by specific observations, i.e. there are a range of possible states prior to observation and any single observation is unable to capture all aspects of the complete physical situation simultaneously.
Complementarity and the Copenhagen InterpretationQuantum phenomena exhibit complementary aspects that are revealed by specific observations, i.e. there are a range of possible states prior to observation and any single observation is unable to capture all aspects of the complete physical situation simultaneously.
Biological Complementarity
CommunitiesBodiesCells
e.g. cities, cultures, ecosystems, GaiaBodiesCells
CommunitiesBodiesCells
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
Theise ND. Now you see it, now you don’t.Nature, May 2005
“Cell doctrine: modern biology and medicine see the cell as the fundamental building block of livingorganisms, but this concept breaks down at different perspectives and scales.”
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
“The validity of cell doctrine depends on the scale at which the body is observed…
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
“The validity of cell doctrine depends on the scale at which the body is observed. To limit ourselves to the perspective of this model may mean that explications of some bodily phenomena remain outside the capacity of modern biology…
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
“The validity of cell doctrine depends on the scale at which the body is observed. To limit ourselves to the perspective of this model may mean that explications of some bodily phenomena remain outside the capacity of modern biology…
e.g. Acupuncture
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
What kind of models?
for example,2 models from Ancient Greece:
Is the body made of… indivisible subunits or an endlessly divisible fluid
Models of the body are perspective/technique dependent
Look at it this way (cell membranes): the body is made of cells
Look at it that way (organelles): the body is an endlessly divisible fluid
“The validity of cell doctrine depends on the scale at which the body is observed. To limit ourselves to the perspective of this model may mean that explications of some bodily phenomena remain outside the capacity of modern biology. It is perhaps time to dethrone the doctrine of the cell, to allow alternative models of the body for study and exploitation...”
CommunitiesBodiesCells
Biomolecules
Theise. Nature, May 2006Theise & Kafatos, Complexity, 2013
Biological Complementarity
NOT A HIERARCHY…
NOT A HIERARCHY… A HOLARCHY!
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
We are walking, talking Earth…
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
Subatomic Particles
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
Subatomic ParticlesStrings (or whatever)
CommunitiesBodiesCells
BiomoleculesAtoms
Subatomic ParticlesStrings (or whatever)
The Quantum Foam
We don’t live in the universe . . .
. . . we are the universe
Cross Cultural Views of the Body
A Complexity Primer
The Universe as Complex System
Biofields and Boundaries
Boundaries are scale dependent
Theise. Nature, May 2006Theise & Kafatos, Complexity, 2013
disorder“chaos”
order
Macroscopic body
Microscopic body
Nanoscopic body
Quantum body
Macroscopic body
Microscopic body
Nanoscopic body
Quantum body
e.g. physical therapysurgery
e.g. stem cell therapies,probiotics, fecal txp
e.g. molecular medicineantibiotics
e.g. electromagnetics
Macroscopic body
Microscopic body
Nanoscopic body
Quantum body
e.g. yogatai chi
e.g. acupuncture?
e.g. traditional remedies
e.g. “energy” healing?meditation?
Nested Bodies, e.g. coarse, subtle, energy,
etc.
Fundamental Awareness:A framework for integrating science, philosophy and metaphysics
Neil D. Theise, MD Menas Kafatos, PhD
Communicative and Integrative Biology 2016; 3: e115010
