Mental Models of the Body

How the Idea of the Body interacts with various Social, Cultural, Economic and Environmental Factors

As I stated in my presentation today, the body is an open, adaptive system as it learn and adapts both in the short term ( by understanding immediate needs of survival and progress – A long, healthy life) and in the long term (by accumulating genetic changes that adapt to the forces of natural selection – Evolution)

In understanding this process of Evolution, evolutionary biology considers the human body to be,inter alia, a vessel that serves the purpose of passing genes onto the future generations.

“The chicken is just a way for an egg to make another egg like itself”



However, in light of today’s studio discussions, I would like to comment upon not only procreation, but some other mental models that organize the bodily systems along priorities that are not the same continuation of a genetic “line”.





1.) Procreation & Survival



As stated above, in evolutionary biology, the body is an agent whose purpose is to procreate and pass on the genes onto the next generation. Considering this mental model, the reproductive system is tasked with heterosexual procreation. Each successive generation, then, is supposed to continue a Positive Loop, wherein the population of the human species increases.

However, as we can see with the emergent debates regarding various forms of queerness, the body cannot always be tasked with mere procreation of more humans.











2.) Sex and Sexuality beyond Procreation





Religious practices such as Brahmacharya, or the existence of asexuality are mental models of bodily (and psycho-social behavior) that cannot be explained within the basic utilitarian view of procreation as adopted by evolutionary biology







Contemporary sociocultural discussions regarding the “natural-ness” of queer relations have also furthered the idea of sex, and the use of body, for more than mere procreation. The mental model guiding the body, in context of such debates then, is to address the needs of the human mind and body beyond that of genetic continuation. Instead the body exists to experience love, determine autonomy to determine one’s own partner and procreation is a matter of choice.





3.) Eco-Anxiety



The rising threat posed by man-made climate change, is another reality that changes the mental model for understanding the bodily system. In this view, the human body is a system that places pressures upon the reserves of the environment and does so unsustainably (given our collective population).



A system archetype known as the Tragedy of the Commons is also apparent in this context as humans have overused natural reserves. Furthermore, the body is considered a system that will fail to cope with the catastrophic forces that climate change will unleash upon the planet. Hence, the mental model guiding the body becomes that of deliberate refusal from procreation – not due to sexual orientation or religious beliefs – but due to “eco-anxiety”



4.) Hedonism

Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and sensual indulgence. While objectives such as leading a long, healthy life along with procreation might be parts of the evolutionary mental models of the body, in a hedonistic mental model the body is merely an agent to experience pleasure. In this sense, the systems within the body are merely agents that absorb the physical and psychological effects of the pursuit of pleasures – the digestive system might suffer neglect and harmful food inflow, the bodily systems might frequently encounter alcohol poisoning, the respiratory system might have to cope with smoking, etc.



Conclusion

Hence, the human body, in all its complex ability to experience learning, survival, adaptation, pleasure and its capacity and tendency to be used as a response to socio-cultural and psycho-social forces, cannot be tied down to a single mental model.

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Sources

Male Reproductive System - https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=Male%20Reproductive%20system&i=2747014

Female Reproductive System - https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=FeMale%20Reproductive%20system&i=2747020

Brahmachari https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/essays/brahmacharya.asp

Asexuality https://www.zazzle.com.au/symbol+asexual+gifts

Pride Flag https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32710064046.html

Eco Anxiety https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/children-climate-change-reproduction-conceivable-future-birthstrike_n_5d134d63e4b0aa375f564d27