The Human Engine

The Human Body is a remarkable thing. Now I must say mine is far from remarkable and since I slipped a disc I’m a tad limited. However, even I can maximize my physical output when it’s required. It’s like a sixth gear we all have. It is the mostly untapped potential of the human body that is so impressive. And the mind seems the least utilized of all.

It is said we only use 10 percent of our brains but a fairer statement would be to add the suffix ‘at any given time’. Digital imaging showing brain activity often shows many regions of the brain being used but not necessarily all at once. In truth we must use most of our brain or logic dictates there would be redundant parts to it such as the appendix or tonsils that could just be removed without effect. To increase the activity in our brains IE use more of it, surely we need to exercise our minds just as we would our physical body. Problem solving, general knowledge, multitasking and calculation exercises enliven he mind.

Trans-Atlantic Rowing – Not my bag really…

Apparently men can’t multitask as well as women. I don’t know how true this is but I must say that certain things help multitasking ability, one is to intentionally add to your daily agenda and see if you cope with that addition. Another is to have children as they will soon have you distracted if you are not on your game. Children do give you grey hairs as well so take it under caution. There is something exciting about trying to maximize your output with body and mind in unison. I like to think that psychics and mediums have tapped into lesser used parts of the mind but as someone who knows little to nothing of their methods and with feet planted clearly either side of skeptics boundary, I am still in search of answers there. I would suggest this though: Why not add one mental exercise to your daily routine? Perhaps a Sudoku of adequate difficulty, or challenging quiz or something that stretches the mind. See if it helps.

While the mind truly is a marvel, our engine is pretty impressive also. What gives a person the stamina to last a month without food, survive in extremes of temperature or even something that many can relate – work a last minute double shift at double tempo? It seems to me we have an autopilot and we are able to experience these extremes if distraction is minimized. Essentially we are switching from that multitasking ability to just one task – survival.

I remember shifts that I did years ago where I had a completion time and colleagues AWOL and it was a necessity to be out of the building by a certain time. I would start some jobs around six a.m. and by midnight I’d be climbing down from a ladder asking where the time had gone. It’s he sort of day where you can only remember hearing that Chili Peppers song six times and the odd cup of coffee. But lo and behold the job was done. It seems I was on auto pilot and the Chili Peppers ‘snuck in’ through repetition alone.

There are so many feats of human endurance recounted in the media and all done on less than a 1horsepower engine (assuming of course a human is less powerful than a horse). People climbing into the death zone without oxygen, rowing the Atlantic or others kayaking across the Tasman, it seems there is no ceiling where endurance is concerned. You don’t need comics to read about superheroes these days. With modern medicine our engine is only going to improve. Now if we could only get a bit more out of the CPU.