“Keeping the refreshments to yourselves?” asked Vic as he entered the garage. He still had a large presence, Ben observed. He could never enter a room unnoticed in the way that Elizabeth could.
“Vic,” said Daniel. “Once you have your drink, why don’t you briefly review what we discussed last week?”
“You did say there would be a test, Vic,” reminded Max. “I guess you didn’t think it would be you that would be taking it, huh? I hope you studied.”
“Very funny, Max. Luckily, I don’t have to study this stuff. I live it every day of my new life.”
“Well said, Vic,” Elizabeth added quietly.
Vic sat on the couch against the far wall. He looked up at the mobile for an instant, then began.
“Well, we learned that the seed of health possesses an innate intelligence that controls the formation of your body and enables it to maintain itself in a constant state of good health. This process constitutes the miracle of life.”
Looking over at Max, he added, “And the Canadiens winning the cup constitutes the miracle on ice.”
“You lose marks for that one, Vic,” said Max.
“Now, what we didn’t get to, and I guess that is what we will discuss this week while Ben’s brakes are attended to, is how this inner wisdom is transmitted throughout the body to control the development in an orderly manner. How is the life-sustaining and healing energy contained in the seed of health delivered to the right place at the right time over the life span of the human being?”
“Very good summary, Vic,” said Daniel. “And those were good questions. We’ll try to find some answers to them before you leave here today. As well as some new brake pads, Ben.”
“Let me start by asking you a few questions: What is the difference between a person who has recently passed away and another person who is alive? They both have all their organs and body parts, but what sets them apart?
“That’s easy,’ said Max. “One plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs and one plays for the Montreal Canadiens. And I think it’s obvious which one is which.”
Vic looked at Max, then at Daniel, before letting out a chuckle. “I have to admit, Max, that was a good one. But you really shouldn’t put your own team down like that.”
“The record speaks for itself, Vic. The Leafs haven’t won the Cup since sixty-seven. Case closed.”
“Let me answer the question,” said Ben. “The person who is alive has life energy.”
“That’s exactly right Ben. And the word for today is energy. How our body uses this energy and how it is transferred to all the cells of the body are things we will explore together.”
“What is the most sophisticated and complex communications system ever devised?”
Max explained global navigational positioning technology and how it worked. “It uses a satellite in space to pinpoint a location on earth the size of a postage stamp. That’s pretty sophisticated. It uses the latest communications technology. I’m not aware of anything more high-tech than that, unless the U.S. military is working on something that we know nothing about.”
“Ben?” asked Daniel. “Any ideas?”
“Well, Max is the expert in this area. If he says this is the most sophisticated communications system, then I’m not going to argue with him. But I have a feeling you’re about to tell us about something even more fantastic than that.”
“You’re catching on real quick, Ben,” said Vic. “Too bad you weren’t that quick on the catwalk.”
“You’re right, Ben. There is a system that is even more incredible than anything devised by humans. In fact, it is located inside the human body, and it was put there by nature. The human body contains the most complex communications system in our world. This system consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and the spinal nerves with branches connecting to almost every part of the body. It controls the function of tissues and cells by sending electro-chemical impulses through the sophisticated network of nerve fibers.”
“Too bad you couldn’t replicate that, Max,” said Ben.
“We could make a fortune. We’d have investors banging down our doors.”
“Maybe if I knew more about how it worked, I could come up with something,” said Max.
“Well, Max, here it is in a nutshell,” explained Daniel. “Sensory nerve fibers send messages to the brain to let it know what is going on in the outside world and to adapt accordingly. This enables us to perceive sensations such as pain, cold, heat, and touch. Motor fibers send messages to the muscles to allow the body to move. Your autonomic nervous system controls over ninety percent of your body’s functions. You name it—your heart, your circulation, your breathing, your digestive system, and even your reproductive and endocrine functions depend upon a smoothly operating autonomic nervous system.”
“Think back to high school biology, Max,” said Vic. “This shouldn’t be entirely new to you. Do the words sympathetic and parasympathetic mean anything to you?”
“Well, I know you weren’t always sympathetic to Ben and me,” said Max.
“I think we’d better let Daniel explain it.”
“The autonomic nervous system is actually comprised of two systems,” explained Daniel. “The sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions. Your sympathetic nervous system responds to stimuli, especially stress and emotional upset, and revs into action with ‘fight or flight’ responses.”
“Now that’s a phrase that I do remember from high school,” said Max.
“When that happens,” said Daniel, “your blood pressure increases, your heart beats faster, and your digestion slows down. Now the parasympathetic nervous system controls functions that help your body to relax. When it kicks in, blood pressure decreases, your heart rate slows, and digestion can occur. Your body must be able to shift effortlessly from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system activity to ease the effects of stress, recover from injury and illness, and allow optimal function.”
“So I’m assuming that anything that interferes with these processes will affect our ability to respond to and recover from stress,” said Ben.
“Exactly,” said Elizabeth. “Like every system in the body. Left to their own devices they function smoothly, predictably and almost flawlessly.”
Max walked over and leaned against the workbench, pouring himself another glass of chlorophyll water. “I think I’m going to need more time to study this, boss, before I can apply it to anything we’re working on. This makes my robot prototype look simple.”
“Don’t be discouraged, Max,” said Elizabeth. What we’re talking about here is the essence of life. You couldn’t replicate that unless you were a god of some sort.”
“The god of trouble, he used to be,” said Vic.
“Vic,” replied Max. “Remember to raise your hand before you interrupt the teacher. She was explaining the ‘essence of life’. That sounds important. Let’s allow her to continue.”
Vic stood up and stretched. “Carry on, ma’am.”
“Quantum physics