We the Human Battery

Part I (first draft)
Everything in the known universe -- specifically things on earth that humans can relate to more readily -- requires power or energy to function or operate. When we think of automobiles or houses, offices, machines small or large, even simple things like flashlights or clocks require some type of power source that provides energy. Throughout human history we have been remarkably resourceful in inventing new ways to provide power to the objects in our lives that are most foundationally important. Hand crank radios, batteries, windmills or dams that use the power of running water, to name but a few, come to mind.
Oftentimes I think of these things when contemplating the larger question of what powers US. What energy source powers human beings...? We know of four primary forces in the universe -- electromagnetism, gravity and the weak and strong nuclear force. Then there are the more well known Newtonian forces such as centrifugal force and entropy etc. But none of these help to explain the energy or force that gives human beings power. From the moment we are conceived we exist as a living functioning operational system. Much like any other device. We breathe. Our heart beats. We blink. Our organs function on automatic performing thousands of processes as if programmed like a computer program. We move, able to move, in an infinite variety of ways. And yet we have still yet to discover what energy source provides us with the power to do these things.
Sometimes when i stop and just stand or sit and feel the life force within me, for lack of a better way of putting it, I become obsessively mystified by this question. It has to be something. From our tens of thousands of years of experience attempting to invent different methods to power external devices around us we have learned this. All things need an energy source to power them. All things it appears except living beings that is -- (for one could say the same thing about any other organic living species as well...) We, along with all the other beasts of the earth and living things seem to operate on some kind of invisible or undetectable energy source.
Yes, food and water provide us with energy which we label "calories" and time has proven that human beings cannot function properly or even live for long periods of time without these basic energy sources of food and water. By now though one realizes that we are speaking of something much larger than foodstuffs. This seems to be something more akin to a kind of electricity. An electrical power of some kind.
I think of it in terms of WiFi or Bluetooth or wireless technology. Things like wireless phones or computers that access the internet through WiFi. We don't have to plug these things into anything and yet we are able to power them up and operate them with no cables. What exactly are we as human beings accessing wirelessly in order to power us up and stay powered? What enables us to move? To think? To breathe? To have heartbeats? We have no batteries to speak of. (the human heart perhaps, but that's reaching and misses the point). Even if we did have some type of internal batteries to speak of, batteries have at least two distinguishing features that we simply don't possess internally to hint at such a thing: they need to be initially charged with energy from some external power source that they can then store; and they don't last for long periods of time without being replaced or recharged. Neither of these distinguishing features of what we know as "batteries" bodes well for any kind of battery theory internal to the human body.
One considers the so-called "breath of life" theories that have cropped up throughout human history in regards to theological ideas, deities and the like. It is no wonder that we have always felt an innate desire to create gods since we first became self aware. Who wouldn't? What wouldn't? We have absolutely no idea where we came from or when we got here, nor why we are or even who we are. No idea what our purpose is or how we are even powered. We just are. The myths and legends and theories abound. Of course they do. It is a rational reaction to existing and not knowing why.
(I am personally always amazed at other humans' ability to take on beliefs with such strong conviction about our origins and the various gods that we've created throughout our history. I prefer to keep things more open. Wait for it... Evolve... If there's one thing we've learned about ourselves through even a minor study of history it's that we are usually wrong in our theological and cosmological assumptions no matter how solidly held the beliefs might be at the time. (Tens of millions of us have believed in literally thousands of different gods and creation stories over the last few thousand years. So there's not much to stand on there empirically.))

Part II
At some point in the not too distant future human beings discover the power source which we are accessing wirelessly so to speak that provides the energy that enables us to function and operate -- just as common household items do with electricity or batteries. It is some kind of force, a power source, something self regulating and self sustaining. This does not imply it is intelligent as we are, nor even conscious or self aware as we are. Those ideas for better or worse are wishful thinking. It could be nothing more than the same kind of energy they powers stars like our sun. I would not call "the sun" intelligent, nor assume it is conscious or self aware. It might be. But I'm going to bet it's not.
Once we do discover this power source that breathes invisible life into all living things we will be able to harness it for a variety of things historically unheard of and not even thought of yet. We will actually use our own bodies to power everyday items and devices like our smart phones and automobiles. Of course our smartphones by this point will be internally implanted devices capable of myriad functions and automobiles will be more like hovercraft or small jets. But that jumps the gun a bit.
(Insert the inevitable and obligatory memory of the various Matrix Trilogy memes here...)
The real juice of the subject -- the thing to get amped up about -- is that the human body itself is a remarkably powerful energy source, albeit a mysterious one presently. But there is no reason we should still be debating which is the better option between destroying the earth through the use of fossil fuels, coal and fracking for natural natural gas or so called green energy like biodiesels such as giant crops of sugarcane or corn and the like. All have their place surely. Wind and solar energy seem to have potential. But not when considering the population growth of our species combined with the limited amount of space we have left on planet earth. The math just doesn't add up.
We must start to explore the inherent energy that is the human body. The living breathing magical battery-like organisms that we are naturally. We most likely hold more potential to power the world around us than anything else we know of. You walk into a room and the lights and air conditioner kick on. Step into your car and drive it as far and as long you want to by simply plugging yourself into it. Or you power it wirelessly. Take your pick.
One could go on forever of course. The idea of the smart-device implanted in the human body that does everything that a laptop and smart phone does now plus acts as a health monitor and healing device to improve health, ward off illness and extend life -- and furthermore is entirely powered by the human body -- isn't too far away. Five years perhaps...? (We will call this "getting augmented" -- like how being vaccinated is viewed now -- or perhaps even "getting jacked in" like the matrix (but I doubt that. We won't really be getting jacked into anything. We will actually be jacking things INTO us... Human batteries)).
I must admit I am more than a little excited to contemplate that many of us are well beyond young enough to assume that we will see the advent of such advances. And these are just the random and momentary musings of one man. I can only imagine what miraculously inventive and imaginative ideas in this field are being designed this very minute by more capable minds.
More later....


- Posted by The Ambassador using BlogPress on an iPhone