One of the wonderful aspects of the exhibit is the opportunity to see the relationship of every organ, muscle, bone, tendon, ligament, vein...how ingeniously our organs are arranged to fill such a small, compact space - twisting, over-lapping, nestled snugly against each other so no fraction of an inch is lost...how each muscle is layered from surface to deep interior according to the action it performs and the direction the fibers of each muscle take, making how to train each muscle so much more apparent...how delicate the bones of the body actually are...how the tendons and ligaments attach and travel from bone to muscle or organ, allowing movement and function to take place...how vast the vascular system is and where it is the densest.
This is such a wonderful teaching tool! Why doesn't our educational system avail itself of this type of presentation? Children need to start learning what a resource their bodies are, the functions performed (voluntarily and involuntarily), how this thing they are transported by their entire lives actually works. If every citizen was given this knowledge - not watered down,
but clearly presented in language we could understand - it seems that it would create in us the desire to care for ourselves so differently...or restated, the desire to care for ourselves. If the result of providing this kind of educational programming was a healther population who took responsibility for their wellness, the dollars saved in healthcare would pay for the presentation tenfold.
To see this exhibit is to be struck by what a divine creation we are. Now I have no intention of getting embroiled in a debate between Darwinism and Creationism...I am fine with everyone believing whatever it is they believe. It doesn't matter what we think: we are walking around in a miraculous vehicle! Our bodies perform countless functions and processes, with or without our help. And if we are really living in a way that hinders this performance, our bodies perform anyway, to the best of their ability, until it just can't be done any longer. Think how wonderful the work could be done with just a little bit of help from us. And don't we have a responsibility to do so?
If you haven't seen The Exhibition, go. If you have seen it, go again!
Here are just a few of the amazing things going on inside us...
...our digestive tract is about 25 feet long.
...the adult circulatory system is made up of the heart and 100,000 miles of blood vessels.
...the urinary bladder can store more than 1.5 pints of urine before needing to be emptied.
...the skin is the largest and heaviest organ system of the body.
...the bones in our skeletal system are, ounce for ounce, stronger than 'mild'steel, but make up only about 14% of the body's total weight.
...the abdominal muscles form the center of the body, connecting to both the muscles of the lower and upper limbs, and the back, and are vital to motion and control.
...if all the muscles of the body worked together, they could generate enough power to life more than ten tons.
...as the main conduit between the brain and the body, the spinal cord transmits millions of nerve impulses per second at speeds exceeding 270 miles per hour.
...the brain contains one trillion nerve cells that are in constant communication with each other and with all parts of the body.
...the tiny fibers within our taste buds bind with molecules of food and send impulses to the brain, which determine which digestive enzymes need to be released to break down the food.
...the liver is the second heaviest organ of the body (after the skin) and weighs close to 3.5 pounds.
...as we inhale, oxygen feeds every cell in the body and, in turn, the cells use that oxygen to burn glucose, giving us the energy to breathe again.
...the heart valves push 4,300 gallons of blood through the heart every day.
...it takes less than sixty seconds for a drop of blood to transit the superhighway that is our circulatory system.
Our bodies are so much more intricate and complex than any machine, computer, or whiz-bang gadget we could possibly imagine. Care for yours.
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