Source of Life Energy

[FreeChile]

What the heck does this mean? "A button or series of switches?" Switches aren't processes, they're controllers of processes.

I have not said that switches are processes. Switches are used to control the flow through a circuit by disconnecting or reconnecting the circuit. They may be thought of as controlling processes in certain cases but not always. I am simply following the machine analogy we began with for the human body.

The human metabolism is well understood, and you can get it from any decent biology textbook.

So if the body is so well understood, then I don’t see why what I suggest is so preposterous. Why can’t we simply shut down certain chemical processes and turn them back on as the need arises? So instead of having a mid-life crisis and becoming mad as some humans do, I would prefer to go through the process of getting shut down and restarted only with certain features. I would like to come out having the vitality of a child and the memories of an adult (without attachment of course). I don’t see how this is drastically different from the genome project, genetic engineering, or many other scientific or medical endeavors. There are many drugs that already work like switches (e.g. Paxil, etc.).

(Or you can look for the relevant terms, like "glycolysis" and "Krebs cycle," on the Web). And there are certainly control mechanisms that the human body uses. As a runner, you were probably familiar with the phenomenon of "hitting the wall." There are two basic metabolic pathways, the so-called anaerobic and aerobic pathways, that "burn" different chemicals, using different enzymes. You "hit the wall" when your body runs out of glycogen, the chemical that fuels anaerobic respiration, at which point that particular process more or less shuts down.

And, yes, there are ways to adjust (within broad limits) how your body burns fuel. For example, "aerobic training" will increase the efficiency of your aerobic metabolism. But there's no way to shut it down entirely, and for good reason. Cells that don't metabolize are called "dead"....

Yes, I am familiar with the wall although not personally. However, even after hitting the wall, the body eventually recovers and the runner gets a second wind.

 

[Mojo]

So if the body is so well understood, then I don’t see why what I suggest is so preposterous. Why can’t we simply shut down certain chemical processes and turn them back on as the need arises? So instead of having a mid-life crisis and becoming mad as some humans do, I would prefer to go through the process of getting shut down and restarted only with certain features.

It is precisely because it is understood how the body works that we know that what you're suggesting here is not possible.

 

[Gestahl]

Why can’t we simply shut down certain chemical processes and turn them back on as the need arises?

We do. Your body does not digest when there is no food in the stomach. The development of the human body in the womb is a fantastically complex example of selective chemical processes happening in response to hormones.

For the person asking why computer/human comparisons are so rampant, I would guess it is because computers are the most complex thing we understand fully, and, in essence, is a general purpose construct (like us), thus useful for comparison to lots of other very complex things.

Lastly, if you want to know the real source of life's energy, it's the same energy source that makes crystals form, and all chemical processes happen. In general, because it is the most efficient and stable way for things to be (locally, that is). Why *that* happens (i.e. tendency towards the most efficient and stable local configuration) is some heavy thermodynamics, and I do not feel qualified to answer that. Perhaps MRC_Hans could fill that in?

As an aside, the universal currency of energy exchange in almost all organisms is ATP. This is how most "life energy" is stored and transfered in the body (the chemical energy in fats, sugars, and even proteins, in a pinch, are all converted to chemical energy stored in ATP via adding a phosphate group to ADP before the energy is actually used for anything).

 

[epepke]

Here's another curious question I've had for a while now and it may have a very solid scientific explanation.

Where does the animal body get it's power from? I imagine it is from nutrition. However, I also understand a human being can go for 60+ days without eating and 3-5 days without drinking.

I guess the mystics would explain this in terms of prana, life energy, the source, the spirit.

So, I guess another word for "prana" is "fat."

 

[FreeChile]

Re: Re: Source of Life Energy

So, I guess another word for "prana" is "fat."

Actually, no. The brain really likes sugar, not fat. Fat is eventually converted to glucose.