The Lazy Enlightenment Hypothesis – An Emergence of Curiosity
Whether you are a sport fan, wellness enthusiast, or just enjoy working out, breaking down human movement and wellness brings us back to the fundamental science that is Physics. Decomposing the patterns us humans display in sports has brought us the profession of biomechanics. In order to fully understand and appreciate the human body’s capabilities they have to use laws of physics, gravitational equations, and trigonometry. The same is true for any form of exercise.
Getting a full grasp on a particular subject, regardless of what it is, will come from understanding the fundamentals. And, thus, rather than remembering movement and actions, comprehending these basics of physics will help the fitness professional to master their craft. Having spent many, many years in the sports performance industry, I always felt lost, overwhelmed, and inadequate early on in my career. This, perhaps due to my approach of studying for exams and trying to remember positions, facts, and what I thought would be on the tests. However, a few years after graduation and still struggling I decided to begin anew. I wanted to truly understand what I was doing and, instead of skipping the fundamental science of my profession, I began to embrace it. My new adventure was now afoot. I began seeing tremendous improvement and results.
How did this happen? Rather than applying one answer at a time, I began answering each question from a first principle thinking basis. Knowing that energy and mass are the same (E=MC2), I could then apply it to every part of my life – both work and private. Understanding the way gravity affects the joints of the human body (pronation), and seeing how we overcome it (supination), meant that I now had answers to problems I didn’t even know I had. Now, did that make me a superhuman? Absolutely not. It gave me questions to different problems and the cycle continued. The endless circle of questioning and finding the answers became like a quest for more knowledge and, in my personal opinion, that is what science is. The endless pursuit to find the best approximation of the truth – although we’ll never find complete truth. I was hooked!
So, the lack of natural enthusiasm for science was my downfall. I was unable to perform my job fully and to the best of my ability due to a lack of curiosity and conscientiousness. I do believe we’re all born with a natural curiosity in order to explore the world around us, adapt to it, and thrive. Like Charles Darwin mentioned in his original Origin of Species, conditions of existence matter more than genes. And so, exploring and understanding our environment is crucial for the survival of our species.
Lastly, a quote from Richard Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces, sums up the very thing that took me so long to understand, “almost everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”
Written by Anton Lanerva
References
Einstein, A. (1905). Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig? Annalen der Physik, 323(13), 639–641. https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.19053231314
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection. John Murray.
Feynman, R. P. (1995). Six easy pieces: Essentials of physics explained by its most brilliant teacher. Addison-Wesley.