Is Our Body a House or a Home
firstly
i want you all to lift your arm over
your head
okay now you can put it back down in
just about five seconds
you were able to complete this simple
task right
but i’m about to summarize the
complexity of what just happened
inside now we’re well aware that our
circulatory system
is constantly pumping blood to the parts
of our body
now in this case your blood was rushing
towards your brain
in order to alert it of the function you
wanted to carry out
by supplying firing neurons with glucose
and oxygen
they require energy we can look at these
as a specialized cell in our brain
called and in the part of a brain called
the motor cortex
let’s look at this from an automotive
approach where the motor cortex
functions like an engine rather than a
steering wheel
this means that parts of the cortex all
work cooperatively
and in an organized way to produce
several actions
rather than a movement directly now a
rhythm in your brain will generate a
pattern
that allows information transmission
leading to muscle contraction
but since this requires some strength
your blood will rush towards the muscle
in order to replenish oxygen and glucose
so that you can finally lift up
your arm so good evening everyone today
i hope to enlighten you
all on how we come about from a single
self
to a complete human body consisting of
37
trillion cells truly we are a complex
machine
now just as the world around us is ever
changing
we’re aware that the human body too has
been evolving
since prehistoric times we are the
intricate products of a delightful
evolution that has lasted like
6 million years now just about a few
billion years ago
the earth as we now know it was vastly
different
man as we know merely did not exist
only once the human lineage broke away
from that of our ancestors did our
becoming come about
as homo sapiens now homo sapiens is the
scientific term
used to refer to our abode of existence
the human body but how does that human
body originate
what allows us to function the way we do
and appear the way
we are well i’m here to give you
all a comprehensive insight on exactly
this
our existence so we all start off as a
tiny cell the product of the fusion of
the sperm cell and excel
after this the changes our body goes
through are admirable
from this minuscule cell we develop into
a blastula
which is a collection of cells that
develops into the embryo
which implants itself into the mother’s
womb’s wall
and finally develops into the fetus
which is the baby
now throughout our growth and
development um our body
is constantly supplying us with
nutrients
we require to survive now a significant
requirement here
is the blood the blood makes up about
eight percent of our body’s mass
and is a mixture of plasma and form
elements
these formed elements come about from
plural protein stem cells
which give us erethrocytes that are your
red blood cells
leukocytes that help protect your body
against infections
and thrombocytes that help in blood
clotting yo
the red blood cells play such a
significant role
in your survival as they purified our
hearts with
oxygen they required to function
effectively our bodies have about
4.8 to 5.4 million red blood cells
per microliter now this means that there
are like
25 trillion red blood cells in our human
bodies
in addition to this blood blood cells
die at a rate of about
2 million cells per second which means
they also need to be
produced at a rate of 2 million cells
per second
proving the significance so now we can
summarize the key functions
of the rules of blood so the blood is a
transport medium for oxygen
a protector of our body against
infection and a regulator for body
temperature
but now that we know this role how does
the blood get to
the parts of the body in order to carry
out all of these
functions for this we have our transport
system
this is inclusive of the heart that is
constantly maintaining blood flow
so that your cells get all the oxygen
and energy it requires
and this is known as the circulatory
system
now our circulatory system is so complex
that if we were to lay out all of our
arteries veins and capillaries
end to end it would stretch to about 60
000 miles
now we can compare this to the earth’s
circumference that is
25 000 miles which means that an average
person’s blood vessels
could wrap around the earth like 2.5
times likewise our brain and nervous
system
are equally intriguing our brain
consists of
86 billion neurons now if you can
recollect
these neurons are in charge of
transmitting impulses
and information to our cells muscles or
simply
other neurons in the body along with
these we have about 84.6
billion glial cells which are in charge
of homeostasis
and also protecting and supporting these
neurons
now guys just through this assistance of
these two specialized cells
we are able to carry out so many
processes like basic motor functions
having visualization coordination
balance getting sleep
and even storing memories and all of
these are just the basic examples
of a few functions that our brain can
carry out
now have you ever wondered why you
cannot tickle yourself
well you can try but you probably didn’t
laugh
now this is because of our nervous
system that is constantly
active in our sensory attention that is
reserved
for signals from our external
environment so when we
move to tickle ourselves a part in the
brain called the cerebellum
warns your body that this action is
approaching and this just causes the
sensory part of your brain to ignore the
sensation
proving that this gelatinous mass of
just
a few kilograms is so intelligent
and well brainy that it can predict your
own
sense reactions and differentiate them
mind blown yet
well it gets better all of this was just
the basic blueprint of a human body
all the complex systems that are part of
each of us
i haven’t even started on the things
that make us unique
take for example the tailbone most of
you must be aware of this small bone
located at the bottom of our spine
known as the tailbone also called the
corsex
this bone is actually a remnant of
evolution
from our ancestors the apes who did in
fact have tails
and let me tell you this at one point of
our lives
we have all had tears crazy right but
it’s true
this is when we’re about four weeks into
gestation in our mother’s womb
when our basic body plan is being laid
out
however the cells in are the human cells
in a tail are programmed to die
a few weeks after they appear so we are
not likely to grow this tear
so human girls are rare right but there
have been
over 10 cases of children being born
with true vestigial tales
as the ancestral blueprint prevails this
just shows
us that the human body is full of
surprises and as one may assume
that all human beings anatomy is the
same
this is not the case another example is
the palmaris longus
now if you all extend your arm
horizontally outwards
like so and touch your pinky finger to
your thumb
flexing your wrist you may notice a
muscle in your wrist pop
this is the palmaris longus now you can
also
observe this with the bunched finger
dust where you do the same
except bunch all your fingers together
and flex your wrist
to notice this prominent tendon
now if you do not see it well you’re
probably part of the 16
of this population that lacks the muscle
note that the lack of this muscle
doesn’t really have any negative effects
on your wrist movement or grip and even
its removal
doesn’t cause any motility changes so
don’t panic
the example was simply given to
emphasize
the variation in each of our human
anatomies
once again so this is the human body
a complex intricate system that has come
into existence
over a period of six million years
with not just the basic elements that
are a part of each of us
but everything else that makes us unique
i hope that you have observed and
absorbed the elaborateness of our human
body
and everything it does to keep us alive
though easy to take these processes for
granted i hope that you can remember
this hard work and always appreciate
your body and its consistency
in being your residence your constant
in a world that is far too transient
one may look at our body as merely a
structure
that we abide in but this is being so
ignorant
to all of these complex mechanisms and
functions that are taking place
to do simple tasks like lifting your arm
up
or thinking a thought so your body is
not just a structure
or edifice like a house but in fact
it is your home your place that feels
good and comfortable
a place that makes that protects you a
place that
makes you feel like you can rely on it
for the safety and security of
yourself unlike a house that is just a
scaffolding of
four walls and a roof your home is made
up of
everything else inside it from the
people
to the furnishing likewise
our human bodies are made up of billions
of cells
muscles tissues organs that are all
working together to keep
you alive and make you who you are so
take care of it
for it is the one place you can always
return to
as it is your home within the skin
thank you