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Chapter 9

The Body

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The Body is a Throne for the Human Spirit

The physical frame is the throne of the inner temple.  In other words the physical body acts a support for the person.  The support and the person are intertwined so what happens to the body, also happens to the person and vies-versa.

The time of the disintegration of the body will inevitable come.  But the spirit of man is not part of the physical world, but is part of the spiritual world. 

The Baha'is believe that the spirit of man is essential and therefore eternal.  It is the effulgence of the Sun of Reality and therefore of greater importance than the physical body.

Our Senses

The body is the interface between the person and the physical world.  The senses of the body provide input from the physical world to that of the inner world.  The inner world is a world simulator, and generates the world that we see with the mind's eye, and ear with the mind's ear.

The inner world is cartooned so we see colors, motion, and see with understanding. The inner world provides music to the person based on certain vibrations of the air.

There are many more than five classical senses that the body uses to examine the physical world. Here are 22:

1. Reception of color by the cones in the retina of the eye.

2. Reception of brightness under dim conditions by the rods in the retina of the eye.

3. Skin sensors for pressure.

4. Skin sensors for temperature.

5. Skin (and other locations) sensors for pain.

6. Skin sensors for itch.

7. Thermoceptors in the brain used for body temperature monitoring.

8. Vibration detection can be felt by the whole body if loud enough.

9. Sound detection (hearing).

10. Smell detection.  Each type of smell uses its own detector.

11. Detection of position (proprioception) allows us to know where are fingers, arms, toes, legs are located in relation to other body parts.  Use by police to see if a person has been drinking and driving.

12. Muscle tension for various parts of the body.  There tension sensors through out the body.  We use them when we hold something in our hands.

13. Skin pain (cutaneous) sensors. The technical word for pain reception is nociception.

14. Bone and joint pain (somatic) sensors.

15. Body organ pain (visceral) pain

16. Body movement sensors that can detect the body's balance and acceleration.  These sensors are found in the inner ears.  It is difficult to move if these sensors are not working. This system is called the vestibular labyrinthine system. Malfunction of this system can make a person feel dizzy.

17. Stretch receptors found in the lungs, bladder, stomach and gastrointestinal tract.  These types of receptors are also used to detect dilation of the blood vessels which may be involved with headaches.

18. Chemoreceptors that sense hormones and drugs in the blood.  This information may be used to trigger the vomiting reflex.

19. Thirst receptors that monitor the body's hydration level.

20. Hunger receptors that monitor the body's fuel requirements.

21. Magnetic field receptors that provide some sense of direction based on the earth's magnetic field.  It is a weak receptor in humans and much stronger in birds.

22. Time detection system that allows people to perceive time. Circadian rhythm

The information on the senses was adapted from Daven Hiskey's article on the www.considerable.com website.