Wonders of the Human Body

Friends of mine may wonder why I study what I do. But those who know me best know I study the body because I love it; I am constantly telling the poor things about boring topics that I find fascinating. Yes, I don't go out as much as the average spring/summer student and get less sleep than I'd like, but it is worth it. I love this study. I love learning about the genius organization, the artistic design, the miraculous intricacies of our bodies. I hated chemistry in high school, but after learning how it is the most integral part of the body, how every process, every movement, every sensation, and every regulation is an effect of chemical processes, I find my chemistry class fascinating.

Think about it. Your body converts the bread you eat to fuel your fingers typing. It uses sodium and potassium ions moving via a gradient of high to lower concentration to send signals from your brain to the voluntary and involuntary parts of your body--telling glands to secrete essential hormones and telling your tongue to move when you want to speak. Pressure receptors in the skin work so that they sense the immediate touch of something, but cancel out the reception thereafter, so you aren't irritated with the feeling of ever-present clothing, rings, glasses, etc. Your heart forms during development in a twisting formation so that when it beats, it contracts with a wringing affect, efficiently pumping the most blood for the amount of energy invested. Your lungs are at the right pressure so that as the lung cavity expands, air naturally floods the lungs as it goes from a higher atmospheric pressure to the lesser pressure inside the body. The biggest, most important nerves, veins, and arteries are deep, in between muscles, so as not to be affected by minor injuries. You encounter millions upon millions of microbacteria a day and your immune system functions at peak performance with many specialized cells so you get symptoms of an illness say 1-5 times a year. Your muscles are so incredible; with one or two steps up stairs, you can stop thinking about the steps and your muscles retain the memory of the height and energy required for each step; you need no longer think about it. You have a reflex arc, where, upon touching a hot surface, the signal needs only go to the spinal cord for optimum speed of a reflex to contract the appropriate muscle. Your brain and muscles can control the strength and magnitude of every movement; you can pick up a pencil or bench press 100 lbs. The hand can perform a gross movement such as itching your leg or the finest movements of a dentist, sculptor, or surgeon. The brain is a powerhouse that houses our thoughts; controls our internal temperature, sleep cycle, emotions, and interpretations; can communicate with the Holy Ghost; and can invent vaccines, artistic expression, the airplane, and theories of physics, sociology, and chemistry. The body regulates a complicated array of hormones that cancel each other out, signal the release of other hormones, and even regulate the development of an embryo. A woman's body can create life and sustain it. This is the greatest miracle of all.

I could go on and on, but wanted to share with you some of the words of the brethren.

"I marvel at the miracle of the human mind and body. Have you ever contemplated the wonders of yourself, the eyes with which you see, the ears with which you hear, the voice with which you speak? No camera ever built can compare with the human eye. No method of communication ever devised can compare with the voice and the ear. No pump ever built will run as long or as efficiently as the human heart. No computer or other creation of science can equal the human brain. What a remarkable thing you are. You can think by day and dream by night. You can speak and hear and smell. Look at your finger. The most skillful attempt to reproduce it mechanically has resulted in only a crude approximation. The next time you use your finger, watch it, look at it, and sense the wonder of it.

You are a child of God, His crowning creation. After He had formed the earth, separated the darkness from the light, divided the waters, created the plant and animal kingdoms—after all this He created man and then woman." President Gordon B. Hinckley “The Body Is Sacred,” New Era, Nov 2006

The following is one of my favorite addresses. I'm only including a small part of it. But I really recommend that you read the whole thing! It is incredible!! You will not regret spending the time reading it.

The Magnificence of Man--Russell M. Nelson

the link: http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6997

I invite you to ponder things magnificent . . .Think, if you will, of the most magnificent sight you have ever seen. It could be a meadow in springtime filled with beautiful wildflowers. Or perhaps you have been awestruck, as I have, at the magnificence of a single rose with its special beauty and perfume . . .

You may be surprised at what I am going to suggest now. Ponder the magnificence of all you see when you look in the mirror. Ignore the freckles, unruly hair, or blemishes, and look beyond to see the real you--a child of God created by him, in his image . . .

. . . A marvelous process of genetic coding is established by which all the basic human characteristics of [an] unborn person are determined. . . . Approximately twenty-two days after those two germ cells have united, a little heart begins to beat. At twenty-six days the circulation of blood begins. . . . Yes, awareness of the magnificence of man begins with the miracles of conception and our creation. . . .

A self-focusing lens is at the front of each eye. Nerves and muscles synchronize the function of two separate eyes to produce one three-dimensional image. Eyes are connected to the brain, ready to record sights seen. No cords, no batteries, no external connections are needed; our visual apparatus is marvelous--infinitely more priceless than any camera money can buy. . . .

Compacted into an area about the size of a marble is all the equipment needed to perceive sound. . . .

To control the direction of the blood's flow through the heart, there are four important valves, each pliable as a parachute and delicate as a dainty silk scarf. They open and close over 100,000 times a day--over 36 million times a year. Yet, unless altered by disease, they are so rugged that they stand this kind of wear seemingly indefinitely. No man-made material developed thus far can be flexed this frequently and for so long without breaking.

The amount of work done by the heart is most amazing. Each day it pumps enough fluid to fill a 2,000-gallon tank car. The work it performs daily is equivalent to lifting a 150-pound man to the top of the Empire State Building, consuming only about four watts of energy--less than that used by a small light bulb in your home. . .

. . . As I observe the lives of great individuals, I sense that the capacity of the brain is seemingly infinite. Wise men can become even wiser as each experience
builds upon previous experience. Indeed, continuing exercise of the intellect brings forth increased intellectual capacity. . .

The human brain is certainly a recording instrument that will participate in our judgment one day as we stand before the Lord. The Book of Mormon speaks of a "bright recollection" (see Alma 11:43) and of a "perfect remembrance" (see Alma 5:18) that will be with us at that time. Each one of us carries that recording instrument guarded within the vault of the human skull.

There are so many other incredible parts of his speech I'd like to post, but no one would want to read through a post that long :) So thanks for reading and go look up the whole thing! We really have been blessed with something incredible, God's greatest creation:

"The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment… All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not." Joseph Smith