Bio Hacking is a term made famous by Dave Asprey. Guys* like Wim Hoff, Tim Ferris, Joe Rogan and Dr. Shawn Baker are also taking it mainstream. What is it that we are "hacking" and why would we need to?
Bio Hacking was best defined by Dave Asprey when he said - "do more of what is good for you and less of what is not".
Now I come to think of it, I reckon Dan Millman, (author of The way of the spiritual Warrior) may of actually said pretty much the same thing a decade or so earlier. Anyway all the guys mentioned above are actively experimenting and getting results.
Nature - which I think of as "Geo-biology", as inanimate minerals over time are brought into life through the actions of micro-organisms and the enzymes, (powerful change creating chemical catalysts) they produce.
Nature is a perfect regenerative system of ever increasing inter-relationship that provides amazing contrasts for membranes and fully fledged nervous systems to engage with. To experiment with and find new niches of opportunity to fill.
Its a kind of fractal expansion that blows my mind - its so fricken beautiful.
Which begs the question, why would we need to "Hack" that which is perfect?
Evolution is messy
Nothing is more messy than "free will"
Its not just humans, all creatures can update their "instincts" or automated responses - even fungi can learn to navigate a maze. This is because "memory" is ubiquitous to cellular life, to “learning”.
Contract - squeeze, move, pull back, take, flee, attack, procreate
Release - allow, feel, absorb, procreate
lot of pre-occupation with procreation there buddy 🙂. (It’s also the name of my favourite art software)
This action of expand and contract, this wave like tide, breath and heart beat moves through space creating time.
Creating bio-feedback, memories and selection, both epigenetic and genetic.
Creating time?
Yes, memory holds "impressions” in storage so that they can be called open and compared to fresh situations.
Memory provides the possibility of pattern recognition, the foundation of intelligence. In advanced nervous systems like ours we may get lost in the process of selecting from alternatives that don't exist yet. (More on that later)
This whole process is visceral, juicy even lol.. by necessity its extremely sensitive to change so that it can be up-dated by new experiences, through "good and bad signals".
good and bad signals
In biological terms, good is that which allows continued life, strengthening and competition, effective use of available resources - pattern recognition, innovation. Plus that all favourite...procreation, the continuity of successful behaviours.
Bad signals are the repeating of sub optimal patterns until that organism either learns or is consumed, recycled through enzymes back into the pool of organic lego that makes all this possible.
Noise and signal
Is the learning of suboptimal behaviour a mistake in nature?
Dont we learn more from accidents and finding the opportunity in calamity than we do from merely cruising?
In the following series we will look more deeply into the subject of Performance through the eyes of biology.
Through the eyes of Psychobiology, I hope you will join me.
*Some awesome Women Bio Hackers include:
Amber O'Hearn, Dr. Georgia Ede, Byron Katie, Brene Brown, Amy Berger..so many more
If you enjoyed this, please do consider also reading others in the Bio-Hacking series:
Part 2 - Mood
Part 3 - Move
Part 4 - Meat
Part 5 - Vit C and Lego