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redmink's picture

Thoughts on Muscle Movement.

Since we have been talking about the motor neurons and movement of our body in class, I was thinking of the relationship between the muscle movement that does not involve I-function and the external cue from the environment.  Their relationship has been proven in the book called Power vs. Force by Dr. Hawkins.

In the book, he states that he discovered the human body instantly responds to the truthful/untruthful statements by muscle testing.  The method of this testing is that a right-handed subject holds his/her left arm (the weak one) and is asked to resist while pushed down by a partner.  The partner says something true or false and then see how easily the arm goes down when pushed.  The result reports when true statement was made such as “my name is ____” the arm stayed relatively firm, whereas false statement was made such as “I was born on Mars!” the muscle became weak and is more prone to pushed down further.  This proves that the muscles are responsive and sensitive to subtle statements without the involvement of I-function. 

So, I am convinced that even without the I-function we can still behave and most of our behavior made throughout our life is from subconscious/unconscious.  I found it very interesting.

I hope to learn more about how our learning can be made without the huge involvement of I-function.  I had believed that the learning process of our brain starts from our reinforcement or strong I-function.  For example, planning out the exam study schedule or what to ask in class, etc.  However, I realized that the best learning can also made from a new sensation, or shocking experience that the brain had never been exposed to:  a new observation.  We’ve mentioned about this in class in which our brain, when introduced with something new (or unexpected), learns.  I think this aspect of learning also involves the big role of unconscious/subconscious part that does not involve I-function.  I am surprised bit by bit whenever I realize the importance of the role of the unconscious/subconscious.

I recently watched the performance of Yu-Na Kim, a gold medalist of The 2009 World Figure Skating Championship held at LA.  Her every single movement was perfect on ice.  Starting the skating since the age of 11, she has repeated practicing and made mistakes (falling down more than 1000 times per year).  I wonder if her I-function is turned on while she is on ice and make double accel. Jumps and so on.

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