A systems view of biological health

Section 2: Theory

17 : The constant flux of calibration

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Meaning-making only takes place past a certain threshold (which may be increased or decreased to some degree by direction of conscious attention).

Calibration of meaning-making (verification of information relative to the reality of the present moment) is a core function of all biological processes. It is normal for there to be some "float" (latency) in this. But a persistent or chronic lack of calibration prevents proper biological functioning.

Does meaning-making stop at a certain point because the response is meaning-less to anything that can detect it? Well – yes. A totally new signal that does not get entangled with any unprocessed imprints will only generate a response past a certain threshold. It appears that decision in the brain are taken as a critical number of neurons fire together, coalescing around one possible response. The immune system will not activate unless bacterial or viral populations pass a certain threshold. To put it in the context of your cognitive self, there must be sufficient interest such that something is taken notice of. Some signals are of greater interest (signals related directly or indirectly to survival) and some are only of interest if they are lit up by the spotlight of conscious attention. Meaning-making can also be incorrect, and so – just as DNA is tested for integrity, there also has to be some means by which meaning-making is reality-tested. Most of the body-mind is very reactive, and most re-calibration (and recognition of a significant shift in circumstance) takes place at a near-cognitive level. It is true that your physiology can react of itself to deep metabolic shifts – such as more water bringing the osmotic balance into a more normal range or an infection being brought under control by the immune system. But cognitive recognition seems to play a powerful role in speeding up the final re-calibration, to the extent that conscious attention seems to play a critical role in all major transitions that have a trajectory leading from from "unsafe" to "safe".

Whenever there is a mechanism that adapts to "stress" – be that external or metabolic - there must always be a corresponding mechanism for re-adapting (returning to a non-threat pattern of physiology and behaviour). This requires a regularly updated accurate calibration with "reality". Local small-scale meaning-making (i.e. the response) does not have to have any awareness whatsoever of the greater meaning and its subtleties, and may be very myopic and reactive. So the efficient regulation and optimisation of homeostasis via feedback loops in the body relies heavily on meaning being accuratelyinterpreted, conveyed outwards, and that meaning being recognised as more important / relevant / up-to-date than the other meaning still in circulation.

If one small part is mistaking meaning, its mistaken response then enters the flow of information, and can potentially disrupt a very large portion of the whole communication network. The result is a loss of calibration of the whole organism with the reality of the present moment. The fact that this is such a serious potential problem requires that - given the doctrine of evolved health - there must be inbuilt means by which the whole body-mind complex constantly re-calibrates itself to the "reality" of the present moment, and by which it can re-organise itself by re-cognising a change in circumstance.

How this works -is that certain kinds of information are given priority, and we will look at that in far greater detail later. I will keep it simple – and say that there are really only four ways in which that fails to work (re-calibration may be disrupted):

1. The first is at a very local level, in which biochemical cascades are interrupted through faulty cell metabolism. The apoptosis (suicide) of faulty or damaged cells is very similar to the inflammatory cycle – for very good reasons – inflammation being a means to contain tissue damage and infection. However, provided that this is contained to a small volume of tissue, information will proceed inwards from the surrounding cells and so will tend to re-calibrate the disrupted cycle. Autopsies of healthy people killed in accidents reveal many small cancer sites that presumably would never have remained or never would have spread. So one critical aspect of the management of information in the body-mind feedback loops is management of the direction of flow of meaning and organic identity .

2. The second is at a cognitive level. Cognitive attention, meaning-making and mental activity potentiallyinfluences all "lower" somatic/biological processes. So if the cognitive mind is not properly attentive or is not calibrated to the real world, all kinds of trouble may result. The mind is the one part of the whole human organism capable of nuanced and critical appreciation of both the body (internal environment and physical contacts) and the immediate and wider external environments, of the relationship between past, present and future, and controls important aspects of meaning-making: such as expectation. We cannot directly influence cellular-level calibration, but we have the potential for a great deal of control of calibration at the "top end" of the chain of feedback loops that regulate and manage the entire body-mind – which then eventually progressed further and further "down" into the organic body.

3. The third is the effect of "Imprints" – memories (and other phenomena) that persist for longer than they "should" - because they have not been recalibrated, and are somehow untouched by the normal recalibration processes. Imprints cause secondary losses of calibration, and tend to accumulate by taking up adaptive capacity and therefore increasing the likelihood of further imprinting. As adaptive capacity diminishes, the body’s homeostatic mechanism eventually begins to fight itself because it has no way to accommodate necessary homeostatic shifts in one place without causing disruption elsewhere. The main function of this book is to describe Healthy re-calibration takes place – so that imprints may be dissolved and internal adaptive capacity restored.

4. And finally – extraneous signals (environmental resources and stressors) that accentuate, focus, entrain, confuse, disrupt or otherwise alter the meaning-making process. These can (like everything else) be good or bad, helpful or unhelpful, or simply indifferent. A loving smile may reflect inwards and move the whole body-mind towards something similar and generate more mental-emotional and physiological coherence. This, along with everything else relational, may require some degree of cognitive attention. But extraneous signals are also taken in below the level of cognition, and may include medicines, socialisation, general environmental influences and many other things besides. To continue the above example, pilgrimage pathways or individuals and groups that are non-judgementally open and receptive – may also turn the mental-emotional (and therefore physiological) state towards a more coherent basis; without necessarily requiring that shift to start with conscious recognition. Conscious recognition amplifies it. There are also many disruptors that affect the whole body-mind complex – such as environmental organic chemical and heavy metal pollution, noise pollution[1], etc. "Loud environmental noises" in general not only carry disruptive signals, but also flood sections of information flow to the extent that substantial energy is expended to filter them out. There are many examples. I personally find that it is useful to reduce disruptive environmental signals, but only so far as that avoidance doesn’t itself take up too much energy. I have also noticed that the fear of a "negative" influence of any kind in many cases tends to be more disruptive than the thing itself. Attention tends to amplify whatever it rests on, so the management of attention is a critically important life-skill.

Having described how it might go wrong, please remember that there are also internal calibration drivers because the body "remembers" health.