Let’s talk about the Black Box.
When I was busy studying geochemistry, I put all of my faith into science. Here’s what that faith looked like… I would:
- Micro-sample limestone
- Dissolve it in acid
- Put that dissolved rock through cation exchange columns (that are essentially tubes filled with tiny plastic balls) to strip all but one particular element out of it
- Evaporate the liquid – that contained that particular element – into a solid dot the size of a pencil tip
- Re-hydrate that sample to load it onto something that looked like a staple
- Put that staple into a machine that looks like the future
- Cross my fingers/trust science that the heat + vacuum + magnetic field in that machine would hurl invisible isotopes of that element down a tube, around a corner, and into a cup that could keep track of the size and number of those isotopes
I always joked that I was doing ‘black box’ geology. I couldn’t see a damn thing… I was working on theory, trusting my equipment, and constantly measuring samples of known composition to confirm my science.
Even though nobody can physically see chemical isotopes, our ideas about what was going on in that machine were confirmed time and time again by reproducible results.
What I was doing was not technically ‘black box’ geology – because we have a pretty good idea of the internal workings of that particular system.
Direct from Wikipedia:
“In science and engineering, a black box is a device, system or object which can be viewed in terms of its input, output and transfer characteristics without any knowledge of its internal workings.”
If there’s one system that is indeed a black box, it’s the human body.
Sure, we think we have some good ideas about what goes on in there… we can study human bodies to physically identify parts, and we can all agree that toxic things are no good for human bodies – but that’s about where it ends.
What is a ‘toxic’ thing anyway? ‘Toxic’ – or something that is poisonous to us in some certain amount – is in the eye of the beholder. I mean, we all have different opinions on what can be toxic to us. But toxicity is also functionally different for everyone – depending on the (epi)genetic cards that you are dealt and how healthy you are to begin with.
Not only that, but – it turns out – we’re not a closed system at all – by any stretch of the imagination. Our overall health has been shown to be influenced not only by our diet, but physical, emotional, and mental stressors in our lives… by how content you are with your life. That means that we can’t be sure that any one particular thing is ‘the thing’ that makes us healthy or sick. Shit. That really screws with what we think we know. How do you test variables in an open system. <<< This is the crux of the problem, if the problem = nutrition & health research.
Here are a few statements that you should chew on (the ages are randomly chosen, just to get my point across):
- Some people eat meat, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people eat meat, and only live to be 40 years old.
- Some people don’t eat meat, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people don’t eat meat, and live to be 40 years old.
- Some people smoke, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people smoke and die young of cancer.
- Some people run marathons, and live be 100 years old.
- Some marathon runners have heart attacks and die young.
- Some people walk everyday, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people walk everyday and only live to be 40 years old.
- Some people eat more fat than anything, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people eat more carbs than anything, and live to be 100 years old.
- Some people drink alcohol and live to be 100 years old.
Have I made my point?
Yeah. We are much more that one particular thing. There are so many variables in our lives and in our health.
What the hell do we do then? How are we supposed to know if we are headed in the direction of health or not? <<< That should be your call, friend.
There are several approaches. They are holistic approaches to health, to better understanding your own human biochemical factory…
The first approach is for each and every one of us to become a scientist, and for each and every one of us to become experts in our own bodies. We all need to understand that the current size, shape, and health of our own body is the end result of all that has happened to it in life until now.
This means that to some extent – you should question what you think you know, you should keep an open mind, and understand your own role in your health. In this approach, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take full responsibility for your health, from this day forward.
N=1 as they say. You are your own experiment, remove as many variables from your experiment as possible.
Another approach is to seek to understand human health from an evolutionary perspective. This approach is perfect for the curious, creative, or romantic person. If you can manage to imagine ‘the dawn’ of human life, and set up some visualizations in your head that subtract the influence of modern life (primarily technology) from the picture, you’ll have a better understanding of the conditions under which successful human life was created.
Let me help you a bit.
While there is a lot we can’t be sure of (like what was the diet of the early human exactly?), there is a lot we CAN be sure of. Early humans did not have artificial blue light in the evening. Early humans did not have the same transportation options that we have today – or indoor climate control. Early humans did not have treadmills. They did not have high fructose corn syrup… or television. Early humans did not have processed foods. They did not have the stressors of ‘the-mostly-negative-and-often-misrepresented-news-media-on-demand’. Early humans were intimately connected to nature.
If we participate in a few thought experiments – it begins to inform us about how far removed we are from the conditions under which we (successfully) evolved. And it gives ideas on tweaks we can try in our own lives to help us to gain health.
I’m not suggesting that we all escape from society and hide under a rock somewhere. I’m suggesting that we question how our current environment and its stressors are influencing our health – and that we realize that we can opt to take control over our environment and its stressors to improve our own well being.
Let me know if you’re with me.
