THE BIPEDAL UPRIGHT HUMAN POSTURE
 
 
1. Introduction
                  It is well known that evolution of life and life of apes underwent qualitative changes with the achievement of bipedal upright posture by genus Homo about 4 million years back.The natural and gradual development of this 'giant experiment' took about 2 million years of hominidae's progressive history, involving many changes. Most conspicuous thing is, a part of their primitive brain specially evolved (called cerebellum) for taking account of this change in posture and its complex working involving about 80 organs, 10 systems (see third section also), dozens of joints, tendons, muscles etc.
 
Fig. 1 Different postures during a journey of about 6 million years from quadrupedal to bicycle mode, via bipedal mode, (trimmed and modified version from Brian G.Richmond et al, Current Biology).
 
The high importance of the upright organization can be understood from the single fact that about 30-45 minutes' daily walking or jogging ensures good health for any citizen. This giant step in evolution led to more learnings, sounds/alphabets, tools etc. Much forward in time, at rural levels, languages and literatures (a social custodian of ideas, history, life styles etc.) developed. This happened in many regions and was a qualitatively different step for human species in their evolution and growth.
 
2. Segments of upright body
                  The human body can be differentiated Into three functionally different segments , viz., (1) head with sense organs of eyes, ears, nose, tongue and adjoining skin joined to mid-body by neck, (2) mid-body of chest and abdomen with many internal organs and hands, joined to legs by a complex joint hip and (3) hip and legs with pedastals called feet which support whole body. Head contains brain which is substratum of Communications and Organizations System(C.O.S.). Chest and abdomen contain many organs of high importance in Circulatory System, Digestive System, Excretory System etc. Legs with feet are the motive organs which facilitate walking, running, working etc. Neck, hip,knees and ankles are most important joints of upright body. Neck supports and moves head with its many sense organs and brain. Hip supports chest and mid-body and ankles and feet support the complex upright body and distribute body balancing and weighing on two feet - two webs of bones, nerves, joints, tendons, etc. The upright posture (Fig.2) of humans is a unique feature among animals. In the case of an adult, this posture seems to be very simple and effortless. But this capacity of standing upright is learned in childhood over many months with other's help and by trial and error. This involves united and coordinated functioning of
 
Fig.2 Upright bipedal posture and different joints
 
whole organism involving many organs and joints like ankles, toes, knees, hip, neck and sense organs. The cerebellum specializes in upright posture and body balancing. The neck plays important roles in seeing, hearing, orientating and coordinating body movements, balancing and posturing with special sensors in body called proprioceptors.
 
                  Body balancing for various purposes, while standing, working, walking in a room, walking in a crowd, walking along a road with many vehicles, riding a cycle etc. are very different. A person learns gradually to coordinate and balance different actions and organs, starting from sensing (seeing, hearing etc.), for different activities of life. While walking, a person sees and watches the way ahead and around with different attentions (often spontaneously), depending on others, wind, vehicles etc. A careful and prudent person gives first priority to safety while walking, riding, working etc. The amount of attention, balancing, coordination and time needed to learn to ride a bicycle is proof of overall neuromuscular coordination involved in this process. Normally a boy or girl, starts the process of riding a cycle, with an adult's help and instructions. This way it becomes very easy. One should learn bicycleing alone, without any help from anybody to understand the thinking and planning involved in riding a bicycle. (Compare this with a rope-walker in a road-side show).
 
3. Systems and organs of human body
                  In the human body there are dozens of organs (about 80) for different functions and works. These organs are grouped into 10 systems (Fig.3) as follows. [ The systems are arranged following the in-built functional, hierarchical order, with Communications and Organisations System(C.O.S.) at top and works' systems - Muscular System, peripheral nervous system (as a part of C.O.S.) and Skeletal System- at base and others in the middle. ] (1) Communications and Organization System ,with brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and sense organs, (C.O.S.),
Fig. 3 Integrative and hierarchical organization of different systems.
 
(2) Endocrine System, (3) Reproductive System, (4) Lymphatic System, (5) Integumentary System, (6) Circulatory System (including respiratory organs/system), (7) Excretory System, (8) Digestive System, (9) Muscular System, (10) Skeletal System. Each system is complex with many organs functioning together for some specialized jobs (e.g., Digestive System). (Some authors group the organs into 11 systems by separating Circulatory system and Respiratory System). These systems, organs, glands, joints etc. function naturally in total coordination and harmony. This coordination and harmony in human organism is maintained through a hierarchical, functional grading of the systems (Fig. 3).This organization takes into consideration various spontaneous, short term and long term needs and functions. Hence all organs and systems are united together functionally, linked by nerves, coordinated by brain and harmonised by integrative brain organs/faculties and hormones in healthy humans.The different systems function together to maintain a stable internal environment called homeostasis within the body.
 
                  Fig. 3 shows the integrated organization of different systems for various purposes. The brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and sense organs together called the Communications and Organization System (C.O.S.) is the most important system which monitors, controls, coordinates and integrates all systems and organs during day-to-day living and working. Considering humans as a living and working organism, other systems which come under 'works-systems' are Muscular System and Skeletal System (Fig.3). Skeletal System supports the whole organism to maintain upright posture (Fig. 2) which is a learned capacity of humans. A working human needs to be nourished well and this is done by the Digestive System and Circulatory System. Circulatory System distributes nutrients and Oxygen to all parts of body. Oxygen is inhaled and absorbed into blood by the respiratory organs. (This is called Respiratory System also.) The body produces a lot of wastes like Carbon dioxide and urine, during different activities. All these are removed by the Excretory System (or urinay system), lungs and skin. Faecal matter is removed through rectum and anus. The whole organism is immunized and protected by the Lymphatic System. Reproductive System is responsible for self-inheritance job. This system ensures that the organism duplicates itself for next generation's life. All these functions of work, nourishment, cleaning and waste removal, self protection and reproduction are harmonised by the endocrine system with its apex gland pituitary in communication with the central integrative parts of brain like hypothalamus, thalamus etc.. The harmony of different systems or integrity of the organism is of fundamental significance. If the harmony is violated by over working, idleing, enjoying etc. the organism becomes diseased and disintegrative.
 
                  The humans in natural and healthy situations live and work fully integrative with proper rest and sleep. Consider a hunter-forester as an example. He hunts for his food. He is organized to hunt and live only. Hence his hands, legs, eyes, brain, joints etc. are exercised and toned up for hunting. When he is hungry, he is urged to eat; when he is tired, he is urged to rest. When he is fully tired or exhausted, he feels sleepy. If this is ignored, he feels weak and sick. If an urbanite is happy after finishing some long-term work, he relaxes and goes for a vacation for complete recouping. A family person spends time with family members and in happy times full recouping takes place. This shows the existence of systematic and integrated harmony in natural and healthy situations. Altogether an integratively living human organism has all organs and inbuilt capacities to work, nourish, clean, immunize, harmonise and inherit for whole life.
 
4. Works' systems and organization
                  As stated early, forester humans are organized to live by hunting and/or gathering. Tribals, various ruralists and urbanites also are organized for working, earning and living. The systems which are directly involved in working are, C.O.S., Skeletal System and Muscular System. Next come nourishing systems of digestion and circulation with respiratory organs. All other systems, viz., Excretory System and organs of lungs, Integumentary System ( skin), Lymphatic System, Endocrine System and Reproductive System are passive to the activities of five systems of works and nourishment to different degrees. All 10 systems can be categorized into 4 groups, viz., (1) works systems (1+9+10), (2) nourishing systems (6+8), supporting and integrating systems (2+3+4) and Excretory Systems (5+7 + respiratory organs; numbering as in section 3). C.O.S. is an omnipresent system (due to P.N.S.). This system has a globally operating brain formation (gobf), deep in the brain, connected to pituitary, wholly integrating different faculties/organs of brain and body.
 
                  The fundamental nature of working and related activities in life in different habitats was stated early in section 3 . In forests and tribal areas, life is fully natural and hunting and/or gathering primarily decide learning and brain organization, skeletal-muscular organizations and posturing, gaiting, movements, speeding, etc. Similarly farming, pasturing, trading, crafting etc. decide organizations of works' systems and other systems in rural areas. In urban areas, situations are very different. Educated and trained workers of different types dominate the works-space. Vehicles like cars, two wheelers, buses and trains transport lakhs or millions of citizens. Mass productions, distributions, selling and buying dominate urban life. Urban life, learnings, trainings and resulting neuromuscular organizations are very different from those of farmers. Brain workers or intellectuals need special foods and nourishments for good health. The brain-body (or mind- body) organizations of an urban head-loader and a cycle borne vendor are different from those of rural farmers. The importance of different works in mind-body organizations and integration in different habitats is clear from above examples.
 
5. Integrative living and upright posture
                  A person can be considered to be living wholly integrative, if that person is self-integrative and integrated with environment and community/society. In integrative life, a person would be living honestly with good health ,balanced with nature and society .So all foresters are integrative since they are fully natural. Tribals and rural people (majority or mostly) are living integratively, since they are nature dependent, familial and live sustainably. Urbanites are far away from natural ways of life and are very sectorial, selfish and mixed-up, leading to various types of disintegrative life styles. In forests, tribal and rural habitats, main works/livelihoods are hunting, gathering, pasturing and farming. In these habitats, learnings or trainings, body organizations and upright posturing of neck and chest , hip, ankle and feet are natural and work dependent. Effects of mechanisation and automation, as seen in cities are nil or small in rural areas.
 
                  Urban areas are very different. All or most of urbanites live in non-natural ways, using piped or packed water, processed or junk foods, clothes made out of artificial fibres, houses made of steel, concrete and glass, television, internet, mobiles etc. for entertainment and communications. They live in designed , engineered habitats of tall buildings, wide and congested roads, fast trains,super markets etc., leading to various types of disintegrative life styles. Hence urban habitats are very artificial, crowded, polluted, speeding and unhealthy. Living in these habitats need special human-machine linkages and organizations, involving different works, services, helpers, managers, securities etc. Here learnings, trainings and body organizations are for mechanized and fast modes of life with distant and mobile connectivities. Living, working and habituations also become highly specialized (e.g., engineers, doctors, workers on computers, taxi drivers, typists etc.). Hence upright body organizations become sectorial or partial, depending on works, professions, mode of travel, life styles, status etc. So wholly integrative upright posture becomes an extinct human feature, similarly wholly healthy persons, compared to those in rural areas.
 
6. Partial integrativeness, postures and life styles
                  Sectorial or partial integrity is what prevails in urban areas. This is caused by,as stated early, sectorial and biased living due to peculiarities of households, neighbourhoods, professions, wealth, status etc. In urban areas,one can easily identify dozens of types of organizations of upright postures, 'status-postures' and styles, e.g., rich, poor, leaders, nobles, slun-dwellers, migrants, beggars etc. Consider a family of a junior government employee who lives in single room, rented house.His back bone is 'bent' due to low status and small income, his voice is low-toned due to weakness and worries, his attitude is lowly and submissive, even though law and society guarantees freedom of expression, equality and liberty. Similarly many other citizens with low incomes. Consider an upper-class person who is rich and owns house and car. He is more upright and loud and is dressed to display wealth and status. But all these are in front of juniors and in public. In front of a senior person, he becomes petty, showing submissiveness and serfdom, due to lack of integrity and basic values. Another special group of urbanites is cyber citizens. They are popular in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bombay etc. and internationally. Their world is the creamy and frothy layer of urban society. They can not carry on without a backpack and a laptop. They all,possibly, are alienated from other sections of urbanites and their self-integrativeness, potures and gaits (if at all they walk!) are different from those of a junior employee or daily wager (see next paragraph).
 
                  Consider a daily wager, who works with his wife as construction workers. They come to work and stop work at scheduled times, collect their wages and return to house to look after children and household works. They have decided to work with their contractor, only if their dignity and freedom are not violated. They do not insult anybody or bow to anybody unduly. They have integrity and social values and consider these qualities as first wealth. Similarly many other workers are seen in different work-places and professions. These show that the most important thing which is to be possessed and safeguarded are integrity and familial and social values. An upright mind is foundation for an upright posture of body.
 
7. Upright postures and exercises
                  In the above section on 'partial integrativeness' it was stated that sectorial and biased living can cause different types of organizations of head, neck, hands, mid-body and hip and legs, giving rise to different postures and gaits. This need not be fully negative or diseasing. But prolonged hard works, living with hardships or privation, malnutrition, long periods of depression, prolonged easy- mixing life styles etc. can cause changes in upright postures or changes in normal functioning/ movements of organs. (Here a little wisdom is relevant, " when groping in dark, group and become strong. But when groping in a group, quit and become disciplined and strong"). Working, living and socializing are interactive to different degrees and depend on health. Hence well planned exercises focused on affected organs, systems and parts of body can solve many problems. Exercises can be basically grouped into two types, viz., (1) those for works' systems and (2) those for nourishing and supporting systems (see section no. 4 also). Background causative factors are to be solved simultaneously or before. Following are some examples; a person working on a desktop computer with bent neck and back bone, a housewife standing and working for many hours, a cycle-borne vendor with heavy/bulky materials, a head-loader carrying tens of kilograms for many kilometers, life styles of 'couch potatoes' etc. (See 'working', 'self-discipline' etc. in Healthcare for more details). Work and health are intrinsically related. As humans evolved to hunt and/or gather food, they need agility and strength. Many household and farm works involve a lot of physical activities. But there are many sedentary works which pin down a person to a chair, car etc. and thus immobilize legs and other organs. This weakens muscles, joints, legs, hands, chest, internal organs etc. and exercises are required to maintain posture and good health. One has to select exercises for energizing and recouping, taking into consideration, one's works and strains, special needs and family situations. Similarly select foods and eating ways also.
 
8. Conclusions
                  It is shown that upright body postures of humans evolved naturally for living integratively and naturally. The more humans progressed into urban life, through tribals and ruralists, the more they departed from this wholly integrative body and life. In a well balanced body organization, a jerk of neck can cause a jerk or impulse on the toes or front- foot. Similarly sensations of taste in mouth can cause reactions in stomach. The full mind is structured in brain neuronally with layers, faculties, organs, formations, senses, qualities, habits, likes, dislikes etc. Different systems and organs of body have to work in different roles and modes, depending on works and other secondary jobs, with their supporting, protecting, recouping, integrating and inheriting activities. This integrative nature of life is natural to animals and plants in natural habitats.
 
 
 
 
 
Bibliography
 
 
 
1. Bipedalism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipedalism.
2. Upright posture. https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/researchers-discover-why-humans-began-walking-upright
3. Swinging chimpanzees. www.google.co.in/search?q=Swinging+chimpanzees+
4. Varkey M. J., Natural organizations of human beings leading to four typical human minds in matured cultural communities; Presented (video) at
    Third International Conference on Philosophy of mind, University of Minho (Braga), Portugal, October 11-12, 2017.
 
 
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