This is Technology Bytes, episode 63 for May 19th, 2024.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bites on interesting technology.
My name is Joel.
Enjoy.
And here we go.
You can tell if you listen to this microcast for long enough that there are times when I’m not exactly sure what I want to talk about.
And so I stretch the definition of technology a little.
And today is one of those days.
Today, I want to talk about the technology of the human body, probably the most technological advanced.
Let’s see, maybe I said that wrong.
The most advanced technological thing on the planet.
And all done by a designer and creator God.
And some may not believe that.
Um, it seems like science and God are often on opposite sides of, of the table, but in my mind, I just don’t see how these bodies happen by accident.
And the amazing nature of what they do, what they can do, what you can put them through, what they are able to recover from.
And why is the body on my mind?
Well, this week I have a pinch nerve and it is driving me crazy.
So I just recently turned 60 and I feel like I’m in pretty good health.
Um, I’m six two, or I used to be, and, uh, I weigh about 165 pounds.
Um, just because I’m thin doesn’t necessarily mean I’m healthy.
I don’t have the best diet, but my wife does a pretty good job of, of keeping us on, on a diet that is semi-healthy, although I love sugar, so that is a problem, but I also do quite a bit of fitness activity on a daily basis.
And, and this pinch nerve has brought me to a halt, has brought me to my knees, has brought me to the couch.
Um, I have been motionless for most of the last four days.
So when this happens, you think, why is the technology of the body so amazing?
Well, we could go through all kinds of parts and the things that aren’t broken right now on me.
So my mental health, uh, my ability to think the way my eyes work, even though I have to wear glasses, the way my brain works, the way my joints move, even in the moments of restriction because of a health problem, all of these things, how the blood flows, how oxygen gets carried in the blood, how breathing keeps you alive, how it’s not something you have to think about.
If we had to think about taking a breath, people would be passed out all over the place.
But our bodies are amazing, technological, technologically advanced units made by a super creator, the creator of the universe, God, and we are made in his image, and so that just makes it all the more amazing.
But the things that a body can do, the things that we’ve learned as the medical professionals do research, as, as we test the limits of our bodies, as we see ultra marathoners or mountain climbers or every day, just people and the things that they can do as I watch my grandkids grow and the coordination and the, the things that a little two and a half year old boy can do.
And a seven year old girl can do, um, that I look on with amazement that no one taught them.
These are just things that happen because they are human, because they have a body with muscles and sinews and joints and connective tissues and all these things.
And, and we know that our bodies are not perfect and unlike a lot of technology or actually like most technology over time, things get better.
So when I see, I said that wrong over time, things get worse.
And so new technologies are invented.
The, the iPhone I have today is so much more advanced than the one that I had 10 years ago, but the body I have today.
Is so less advanced than the one I had 10 years ago.
It’s the same body.
It’s the same thing, but, but it does wear out.
It is not in a perfect state and just like upgrading technology, because the thing that happened 10 years ago, can’t do the things that it needs to do today.
And so your body ends up being much the same, except at the moment, anyway, there are no upgrades.
So what do we do when our body fails?
Well, first off, we have to learn to relax.
We have to learn that, that this technology that is internal to us will heal itself.
And that alone is amazing.
There are doctors, there are medicines, all those can be used to help the body heal, but the body does the majority of the work just with some assistance.
And so rest, while difficult for me, because I like to be mobile, especially this weekend, as I’m having my grandkids here and will not be able to play with them.
It’s frustrating.
And, and in that rest, we are able to heal.
And our bodies take over and do what is necessary to make things better.
And that, that is amazing that that happens.
And I’m not much of a doctor person because it doesn’t always work, but Hey, when, when I needed an appendix surgery, when I needed a broken, something fixed, although that really hasn’t ever happened to me, um, sprained ankles, torn ligaments, all kinds of things that I know I have to go to a doctor for.
Pinched nerves.
I don’t like to go to the doctor because I’ve never had relief from that, no matter what they did.
However, over the course of the last couple of days, I can feel my body healing.
It’s still frustrating.
It’s still in a lot of pain, but the technology inside my body is working.
It is taking blood to the proper locations to start the healing process.
The swelling that is occurring, that’s causing the pinched nerve is reducing over time.
And, and there are things that can be done to help that medicines to be taken, icing, heat, whatever, but it takes time.
And in our technological world, we don’t like that.
We like things to be fast and immediate and now, and, and while the body is so technologically advanced that we would like it to react that way, it doesn’t.
Um, and so we actually have to take time and time is something we don’t like to take because we’re busy people and we want to just go on and on.
So where am I going with this talk?
Well, I have no idea.
I just know that I hurt and sharing it with people makes me feel a little better that they can empathize or sympathize that, that they recognize that.
I wanted to let people know that my creator, God made something that is unmatched in history, the technology of the body, the brain, the eyes, the ears, the joints, the muscles, all of that working together cannot be an accident.
And to be able to be amazed by that in life, throughout life, regardless of what stage you’re at, regardless of the pain that you’re in, regardless of anything that might be happening in your life, to take time to be amazed by the body God created, to take time to be amazed by the creation of a unit that is able to sustain itself most often.
And to watch that over and over again, even with older parents who have passed away and their bodies fail, you still see the amazing work of a creator.
And in my body where things are starting to fail, well, I’m not the same person I was at 30 that I am at 60 physically, but then I get to see my grandkids grow into their physicality and, and my kids before them.
And I praise God for what he has made, even when it doesn’t work.
Like mine at the very moment, but still it remains most technologically advanced thing on the planet, the body.
That is all I have for today.
If you have comments or suggestions, agree, disagree, that’s fine.
I am open to discussion.
You can reach me at technologybitesatmericfamily.com.
Again, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bites microcast, and I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
