One might think that rhythm, compass (beat) and cadence are not very appropriate concepts to be used in the activity of walking, because they are usually applied in music and in some other artistic manifestations. I would like to mention and emphasize that walking as a natural human activity comprises a “musicalization” and is therefore realized by combining functionally and organically these three functional concepts. Walking is a percussive musical symphony (Future Posts EXPLORING OUR PERCUSSIVE MUSICAL WALKING-BODY-RHYTHM; THE PERSONALITY DEFINED BY THE RHYTHM WHEN WALKING-BODY; WALKING AND THORACIC PERCUSSION).
Our body is permanently vibrating. It emits its vibrations when performing different functions through its various vital organs and systems: breathing (lungs and alveoli), palpitations, pulsations, heartbeat (heart), voice and language (mouth, larynx, pharynx and oesophagus), blood circulation (blood vessels), lymph circulation (lymphatic vessels), autonomous movements of some organs, etc.
The rhythm, the compass (beat) and the cadence of each body are organically aroused and create a vibrational symphony.
What does “organically” mean?
The term “organically” refers to how the different parts and systems of the body function and relate to each other in a natural and coordinated way to maintain homeostasis (Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND HOMEOSTASIS) and perform its vital functions.
In the physical aspect, the human body functions organically when the different systems (such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, nervous, etc.) work together to maintain an internal balance and allow for physical activities.
On the mental side, organic function refers to the brain’s ability to process information properly and maintain emotional and cognitive balance.
This implies – in both aspects – a complex interaction of biological, psychological and social factors that allow for effective adaptation to the environment and the demands of everyday life.
Considering the above, we can also consider arrhythmias, peristaltic movements and others as a source of organic vibration.
FUNCTIONAL ORGANIC RHYTHM, COMPASS (BEAT) AND CADENCE
Let us briefly analyze the concepts of rhythm, compass (beat) and cadence, taking into account the sensations and effects on the physical body as well as on the mental aspect:
RHYTHM: is the regular succession of events or phenomena with a certain periodicity. In the human body, rhythm can be observed in biological functions, such as heart rate, breathing, sleep and wakefulness, among others. It can also manifest itself physically as in artistic expression, in dance and ballet (Future Post WALKING, DANCE AND BALLET).
COMPASS (BEAT): is the regular division of time into equal units, which is used in music to measure and organize rhythm. In the human body, the compass (beat) can be used as a meditation technique to regulate breathing and mental concentration; it can also be observed in the coordination of movements and in the regulation of heart and breathing rate during physical exercise, e.g. walking.
CADENCE: is the rhythmic variation in the intensity, speed and duration of a movement or sound. In the human body, cadence can be observed in the way we walk, run or perform any type of physical activity. It can also be present in the way we speak (speeches and poetry), and in artistic expression such as in music and poetry. Cadence can be used as a tool to improve physical performance and mental attention in different situations.
Cadences, those variations in the intensity, speed and duration of our movements while walking (of constant time lapses) have been learned over millions of years in the natural practice of walking. We have developed that cadence (*) that we use when walking from the pristine origins of the human being.
(*) PERCUSSIVE CADENCE: Cadence implies rhythm, but also organization and harmony. In percussive music (percussion) it involves rhythm and time periods. An ordering that leads to intonation and harmony. It is the series of percussive sounds that are performed in a standardized and regular way. The percussive cadence in walking also involves the movement of the body to match the intonation (tones) produced by the steps. It is the perfect and normal distribution and organization of the sounds generated by the steps and the movements of the body as a whole. This walking cadence can normally be combined with sounds, movements and pauses, in both cadential spheres (sound and movement), which participate in a physical and auditory intonation, in full harmony. It is the normal harmonization that the body achieves when walking, as the steps are performed to a rhythm and musical beat of its own.
Each individual has his own rhythm, compass and cadence, as well as his own opening of step “d” when he performs his personal walking.
NORMAL STRIDE OPENING “d”
The step distance “d” of an individual is constant in normal walking. When we perform some extra activity while walking, this distance “d” is modified, either by increasing or decreasing it, transforming it into an irregular or out-of-normal gait.
In general, the normal walking pace “d” is greater than when reading at the same time:
DISTANCE d’ WHEN READING AND WALKING
d > d’
In the same way, we can illustrate for the other 2 structured activities within the WALK-RWD system, writing and drawing, and each of them will impose on each individual a specific stride opening.
To walk with a different stride opening than normal is to walk out of cadence, and of course, also with a definite rhythm and beat (compass).
It should be noted that the rhythm, cadence and compass, and therefore the step width “d”, change throughout the life of a human being, man or woman. The same values are not maintained in childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. However, each individual develops these 3 parameters according to his or her gender, physical structure, weight, height, etc., and keeps them constant during certain periods of time.
The determination of each of these parameters involves measurements of time, space and number; and with them other quantifications such as speed, gravity, acceleration, weight, mass, etc. are combined.
Gaston Bachelard in his book THE INTUITION OF THE INSTANT, F.C.E., Mexico, 1987 (1932 in French) expresses his ideas about habits and conditioned rhythms, which shape the human being:
“A particular habit is a sustained rhythm, where all acts are repeated by equalling quite exactly their novelty value, but without ever losing that dominant character of being a novelty”(pp. 61-62).
“The global identity [of the human being] is made up of more or less exact reiterations, of more or less detailed reflections. The individual undoubtedly strives to copy today from yesterday; and this copying is also helped by the dynamics of rhythms” (pp. 63-64).
“The dominant habitus flows over those which are more unconscious” (p. 64).
“The human being is an integral sum of rhythms” (p. 64).
“The chronotropisms will be those that integrate the habits in this integral sum of rhythms that form the being” (p. 65).
Something more related to walking, Johan Huizinga, in his book HOMO LUDENS (p. 222), gives us some ideas that I will summarize: He refers to the body with its movement and balance when walking. That same rhythm that “contains” the body, from time immemorial, from the most remote times, which has manifested itself in the manufacture of food (archaic times), in an instinctive way, we also observe that the body carries it out, in an unconscious and imperceptible way, in walking.
And I, for my part, in the introduction to my book “Cocinopea”, describe this rhythmic movement that ancient human groups developed, to prepare their food:
It seems that someone whispered to us that the highest art, the best art, is the one that is performed with the greatest number of human senses. And therefore, we could venture to say that rhythm in bodily movements has a profound and subtle effect on the preparation of the cymbals, that rhythmic faculty, sensation and capacity are determinant in the being for it. I do not wish to expand any further on this, but I do wish to comment that the activities that take place in the kitchen, aimed at preparing food, have always been carried out in the company (association, adhesion) of chants and work tunes since the most ancient times and in very primitive activities such as grinding, milling, cutting, kneading, etc., as well as in the preparation of food, grinding, chopping, cutting, kneading, crushing, combining, mincing, mutilating, dismembering, slicing, carving, mixing, baking, roasting, and all of them surely had a compass (rhythm), a song, a rhythm, a melody, which accompanied and led them.
It was characteristic that these activities were carried out in groups, and as the activity of preparing food became more and more an individual activity, the custom and rituals of accompanying them with chants and rhythmic body movements in groups was lost.
Hence, we could also venture to say that a good cook is one who has an adequate and relevant inner rhythm. Rhythmic balance and good flavor merge to achieve the best dishes, which is why we recommend for this type of cooking the setting with music from the region, highlighting Huastecan sones; for each of the dishes there should be a specific suggestion of the music that can accompany the preparation of each recipe.
So it is also in our interiority that these 3 factors work to prepare the food: Rhythm, Compass and Cadence.
To conclude I would like to communicate the 5th Principle of the WALK-RWD system or Principle of Rhythm and Cadence, which arises and is an essential part of this Post:
5th Principle or Principle of Rhythm, Compass and Cadence.
Every individual has a rhythm, a compass and a cadence of his own, he only has to discover, apply and maintain them while walking.
The determination of these 3 parameters in each individual can be determined by the practice of walking itself. Only by walking can each person identify which ones are ideal for the body, both physically and mentally. There are two very important stages that we can go through in order to understand how to identify them. The first is related to ideas and the second is identified with health.
STAGE OF IDEAS. The human being when walking can manage to generate a greater number of ideas through the application of the WALK-RWD system (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM STIMULATES CREATIVE THINKING. PART II, THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE), the generation of an inexhaustible (unfading) wellspring of ideas and creativity; and when we enter into an attunement (symphony) with these three parameters when we walk, we may be assured that these are the normal and ideal parameters for that particular person, for he is generating an optimum number (quality and quantity) of ideas.
STAGE OF HEALTH. In the stage of health we can express the same; walking for the human being is a source of unquestionable youth (generation of health and prevention of diseases), besides the correction of morbid states when walking, through the application of the WALK-RWD system (Future Post THE SILENT SOUND OF OUR FOOTPRINTS HEALS US) and when we enter in a tuning (symphony) with those three parameters when we walk, we could assure that those are the normal and ideal parameters for that special person.
Let’s take a walk and introduce ourselves to these 2 stages of ideas and health
I have already referred, in some previous Posts, to this one I am publishing; for example, in Post WALKING ALONG 2 IMPREGNABLE SUMMIT OF FREEDOM, I mentioned that: “It is one thing to approach the concept of freedom by certain complicated paths [1st scenario] and another to approach freedom itself, to discover it, feel it and exercise it [2nd scenario], proposing in that Post a scheme to achieve it. Perhaps the latter is more difficult”.
I have decided to carry out the first scenario – that of approaching this point of understanding the concept – by means of this post, which I have divided into several parts, which I will present as I analyze different authors. It will be an important and intense effort, and I will have to carry it out with caution, since it will be necessary to become clearly aware of what the thinkers I have selected have written about the concept of freedom and their inclinations towards the practice of walking, in an indirect way.
One of the aims of this attempt is to find out where Freedom now stands at a fork or crossroads? At some point in its historical journey, perhaps it shows a reasoned walk up to these moments. From these indirect views to have the prospective of where it will – or should – go in the future. In future Post THE WALK OF LAW, FREEDOM, HISTORY, JUSTICE AND OTHER VALUES I mention the way Freedom walks, as I observe it: “The walk of ‘FREEDOM’ is swift and energetic, like the flight of a free bird in the sky. Each of its steps is expansive, always seeking new horizons and opportunities”.
There are a few concepts about which we need to be quite studious and very analytical, and freedom is perhaps the most important of these and, moreover, truly inextricable.
To walk towards that point of understanding the concept of freedom and to know its bifurcations is our purpose.
Many, many thinkers throughout history have devoted their intellectual efforts to study, analyze and evaluate these two scenarios. All their views on the subject are acceptable and worthy of consideration. But, very few have written and given their opinions on the natural, innate and spontaneous activity of “walking”; I have no doubt that a high percentage of them liked to walk and did it, consciously or unconsciously, as an exercise to “liberate” their ideas: thinking and writing.
Also in the field of art, the concept of Freedom is involved in an essential way.
There is a potential controversy regarding creation itself, especially in the context of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recreate new versions of masterpieces by great painters. The introduction of AI into the artistic world has raised important questions about originality, authorship and aesthetic value.
On the one hand, AI technology makes it possible to recreate works of art that mimic the style and technique of famous painters, which can be a form of homage and a way of experimenting with classical styles in a modern context, but it also presents a disruption and “pseudo-homage” by multiplying the works of those creators who produced an original and limited body of work in terms of the number of their works, which could now be greatly expanded.
From a positive angle, it is argued that these recreations can be a way of revitalizing and reinterpreting fine art.
There is no doubt that from now on, some artists will embrace AI as another tool in their creative arsenal, as it is demonstrative that these new technological means catapult creativity in human beings.
The freedom of creation in art in this age of the onset of AI reflects the constant evolution of the very definition of art and its purpose in society. It is essential to explore new forms of expression and reinterpretation of masterpieces through technology and to observe their cultural impact (1).
I propose in this Post, divided into several parts, to make a discursive-conceptual disruption or discharge by pouring out the most important ideas (conceptions) of a number of thinkers – 20 or less – that they had about freedom and try to focus on relating them allegorically to walking. An analysis of their thoughts in order to approach them methodically and reasonably, giving them a certain plasticity (flexibility) and thus involve them with an activity that they obviously performed but never mentioned, walking, but which – with reasoned intuition and sensitivity – we can incorporate into their conceptions. It is an exercise on my part that will allow me to refocus their thoughts and gain additional insight from them about freedom, and with imagination, their inferential relationship to walking.
There are approximately 20 thinkers and from each I will set out their thinking, in a very concise way, on freedom by analyzing some of their own books that they wrote on this subject. In addition I will have to make a great effort to research what walking might have meant in their lives. The latter could be likened to an essayistic exercise, if I may use the term; a challenge that kept me engrossed (busy) for a couple of months as to what would be the procedure and formula that could lead me to such an illustrative essay.
Throughout this study on freedom, I kept the formula in mind: To walk is to move forward and to feel free.
To approach – metaphorically walking – what has been thought, analyzed and expressed about the concept of freedom, may perhaps be a motivating invitation to confront ourselves with what freedom means for the human race. It could also guide us to delve deeper into the thinking of one or more of them, which would lead us to read and, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you, to do so by walking. With this idealized sequence, a new circle of Freedom-Reading-Walking could be fulfilled; a forced but achievable analytical process, and perhaps we will find in this formula some stimulation (motivation, invigoration) to carry it out. Most probably, we will discover a gap and want to fill it; however, the ideal means is the binomial “reading-walking”, with which a basis of functional approach between freedom and walking could be achieved, and reading would be the functional (analytical) bridge required to achieve that approach.
Some time ago, I once asked the following question: “Freedom: Existential longing, mental mirage or metaphysical reality?” Apart from going through some answers and opinions, analyzed and reasoned, trying to define what it consists of, I also tried some mechanisms to make it “felt” in some of its most elementary forms, just by walking (Post WALKING ALONG 2 IMPREGNABLE SUMMIT OF FREEDOM).
Freedom gains strength in function of its absence; the more we feel we don’t have it, the more we long for it. I have already mentioned on other occasions that it is easier to talk about that which impedes, hinders or is incorrectly called freedom – that is, the forms of “non-freedom” in society – than about that which really is freedom.
Walking allows us to feel and live “sensorially” that full force of our interiority, regardless of the types of our emotional chains. It allows us to move away from the mass fervor of consumerism (commercial hedonism), from the mass advertising envelope, as we are constantly being told that freedom is “a bonus” to be gained by acquiring things. When we walk along a country pavement, we say: “I breathe fresh air”; and that is nothing more than an allegory of feeling free, free from the things that imprison us, our commitments, obligations, physical things, from everything that makes us feel tied down.
Just to get a little closer to its definition, we can mention a classification of this concept in 2 aspects, which are not the only ones; the first one is constituted by psychological freedom, of a spiritual, psychic, mental and metaphysical type, which is defined with 2 words: inner freedom (Future Post WALKING AND INNER FREEDOM-WALK-RWD SYSTEM AS LIBERATION); and the second is made up of physical, civil, political, economic freedom, with all its rights, of worship, of association, of expression and others, also defined with only 2 words: outer freedom.
Now, the system of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, is a possibility that we have at hand to move away from these chains. Those 3 fundamental activities that make up the System are linked to freedom, as we walk, we feel free from our bonds.
In a story in my book Evanescent Stories (2), entitled “THE TREE OF EXISTENCE; AND FREEDOM?”, I present a dialogue between the consciousness and the unconscious, -all the stories consist of a dialogue between these two mental entities-, which describes the struggle we engage in with ourselves for not understanding what is happening to us and for not being able to feel free. I quote myself:
“Freedom is the random space where none of the mental functions find a place. Disharmonies that must turn back, searching for the intuition of that reasoned instant that imprisoned generates our own reaction to exist.
It is paradoxical to blame each other.
Healing is the very yearning for freedom, that self-presence in the balance of the source of feeling and reason, of suffocation and subjugation; for the sole purpose of knowing and feeling that we are alone; condemned to hide in the memory of our own being, consuming that strangulation of deep solitude, the product of hopelessness, of being authentically us, and only us.
That is not being.
The vital horizon is observed when freedom is oneself.
And what comes next? My unconscious conditions are confused.
Nothingness. Absolutely nothing. Only hell. Blood flows at 103 degrees when freedom is taken away.
Let us not resist. Every movement is a creator of itself; even if we find ourselves at these limits, we should not aspire to recreate only if the other dies”.
So much for this part of the dialogue between these two entities seeking harmony.
The title of my book, “Freedom 103” (3), comes from this story, because there are 103 authors that I study and analyze their views on the concept of freedom.
The series of dialogues between the consciousness and the unconscious summarises our perennial struggle to be free. When our being is curtailed in its possibilities to act freely or is blocked, at that point of intransigence and despair, our blood begins to overheat (103°F) and boil if we do not manage to emancipate ourselves from our chains, whatever they may be, personal or external.
Walking is not the total solution to remove such chains, but it does help us to mitigate various emotional ailments. Let’s do it by choosing a place outside urban areas and take a book and a notebook with us. Let’s read that book – chosen in whatever way – that brings us release and rescue that aching part of our being. Let us observe the open space (contemplation) and let us unburden our sorrows by writing them down so that they too fly freely out of our being (Future Post WALKING LETTING TRANQUILITY FREELY).
Let us give ourselves permission to walk and make it a privilege that has virtually no monetary cost. Let us do these activities as a fundamental act of freedom.
Back in Post WHAT WOULD THE GREAT THINKERS RESPOND ABOUT WALKING?, I presented a short response from each of the 74 thinkers I chose. I elaborated those answers in a revealing and meaningful way, albeit in a funny way, about what for some reason they had distinguished themselves in their creative work.
I get to thinking that if we had a compilation of their views on walking – if they had made them – we would have an excellent assessment of what the exercise of walking is. Obviously, with this writing I do not pretend to achieve that, or even something close to it. J.J. Rousseau wrote a whole chapter on the subject of walking and it is really very interesting to hear what he thought (Future Post WALKING IN J.J. ROUSSEAU, analysis of his ideas on the subject). But the rest, he wrote almost nothing about this natural practice of the human being.
The first 3 authors I analyze, are the ones I propose below, and in each of them we will walk along the two stretches of the road that I am sure we will be able to know where we are standing and where we are going:
1. Eliade, Mircea, “The myth of the eternal return”, Ed. Alianza-Emecé, Spain, 1951.
Although it is not a book devoted to the subject of freedom, it contains a small section on this concept that is very interesting, as it deals with two aspects that make it essential to include it. The article is called “Freedom and History”.
The first issue is about the creation made by the human being (pp. 148-149) who attributes his creative impotence -of modern man- to the part of the being that has been captive to a mythical horizon governed by archetypes, and sometimes reduced by them. He has long been disabled – for a long time – to take the risks that lead him to the same creative acts, and he is limited – immersed in history – by his own way of conceiving freedom. The archetype is his actual model of freedom. According to my approach, this first aspect has much to do with walking: Creation, Creative Powerlessness, Archetypes: Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC”. PART I; Future Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPES-THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, scheduled for publication July 1, 2024.
The second aspect that Mircea studies places the human being as the maker of history. To the extent that man advances towards modernity and becomes embedded in it, to the same extent his incapacity to create it increases; either because of his own impulse of several centuries, even millennia – says Eliade – that he achieves it alone, or because his leadership has been deposited in a few characters who lead the masses towards historical tasks exclusive to them, forcing them to carry out harmful actions and prohibiting them from acting naturally. It is thus an apparent freedom for the majority of mankind.
It is a freedom that is philosophically deterministic or indeterministic but defined by an elite, and ultimately a fictitious and non-existent freedom.
In a synthetic way, M. Eliade proposes a disposition of actions of modern man governed by archetypes that restrict him, on the one hand, in his creativity or creative activity, and on the other hand, in the worst case, defined by a small number of people who tell him what he must do and when he must carry it out. This development becomes increasingly difficult and complicated as our actions become more historical.
The author compares modern man with archaic man, the latter being a free and creative being, unlike the former who has been bound in his creative behavior. “The man who aspires to be historical cannot aspire in any way to the freedom of the archaic man with respect to his own ‘history’, because for the modern man his is not only irreversible, but also constitutive of human existence”. He makes this confrontation without reaching a definitive conclusion about his historical conditioning and about his relative freedom; however, he does foresee a future where historical man must seek and find the new man, who is the creator of his own freedom; to this end, and with the purpose of overcoming this archetypal cyclical – infinite – archetypal horizon, he proposes a philosophy of freedom, without excluding the supreme divinity and under the new condition of spirituality of the Faith-God binomial.
Modern man has been restricting himself in his creative work, limiting himself to creating only history. The archaic permanently recreated his cosmic traces and infinitely repeated his cosmogony, which transformed him into a free and creative being (a creator). The modern man has not transcended his historical state and has not been able to achieve the creation of a new man, a challenge that will have to be resolved in the future.
Its conceptual and functional linkage (relationship) with walking: We can say that Mircea Eliade, being a historian of religions, focused on “hierophany” and the manifestation of the sacred in the world, which led him to consider that freedom could be related to transcending worldly limits and connecting with the divine. In this context, walking for Eliade could be interpreted as a means of seeking that spiritual connection and escaping earthly limitations; a natural practice – like all those of archaic humans who were free and creative – and one that we should engage in intensively as in its origins. Modern man is limited by his own cultural conditionings and in order to place himself on the path of freedom he will have to walk, which is a “costless” practice, and as he continues walking he will encounter some forks and difficulties on the way, but at least he would have started with a natural archaic action of freedom.
Simmel, Georg, “The individual and freedom”, Ensayos de crítica de la cultura, Península, Spain, 1986.
Georg Simmel (1858-1918), who has been considered the self-consciousness of modernity, presents in this work a diversity of analyses on vital issues -religious, historical, aesthetic, philosophical and social- among which is freedom, and from whose final chapter “The Individual and Freedom” derives the title of this book. The twenty-six chapters that make up the book are critical essays on culture, which give us an insight into the thinking of this German sociologist and philosopher. The author criticizes all those scientific and technological instruments that can be detrimental to what we intuitively understand as life.
His analysis of freedom is embedded in the socio-historical study of the development of individualism as a longing of the citizen “to feel the autonomy of his person” (p. 272).
Like many historians, he locates the Italian Renaissance as the starting point of this individualistic movement, through which the formerly anonymous subject strives to be recognized, differentiated and admired by being able to “develop his forces, to freely unfold” his potentialities and his life.
In order to understand the approach of Simmel’s analysis of these two concepts in the essay “The individual and freedom”, where the author tries to vindicate them as the essence -internal/external- of the human being, it is convenient, if not necessary, to read also the previous essay entitled “The great cities and the life of the spirit” -in this same book- where he exposes the human evolution from the most closed social nuclei to the great metropolises of the beginning of the 20th century. In it, he describes the multiple apparent contradictions that arise in this development and which Simmel uses to explain the paradox of freedom in modern times.
In the essay “The Individual and Freedom” his analysis begins in Europe in the Middle Ages, where he investigates the incipient tendency towards individuation that was curbed at that time.
Individualism as a sign of freedom tried to be accentuated in that period, seeking differentiation through productive activities as a form of fulfilment in society.
In the 18th century, individualism evolved and came to have a meaning that corresponded more to the interiority of being; freedom was sought as a yearning that would allow the citizen to transform his various external limitations, concealing them in his ontological interiority.
The division of labor coupled with competitiveness are the ontological projection of its inability to find its essence (being).
An insurmountable struggle between economic – physiocratic – forces and a renewed striving for spiritual liberation are characteristics of this cultural development. The defends of freedom, sustained by a natural equality, brings man face to face with history, an arbitrary and artificial becoming for the human condition of which he was beginning to become aware.
The author argues that “the deepest problems of modern life stem” from the individual’s claim to preserve his autonomy and uniqueness in the face of the arrogance of society and its constraints, of what has been historically inherited by the culture and technology that proliferates in the cities and suffocates life, within each individual.
But just as the big city suffocates and constricts individual freedom, it also offers a kind of refuge or shelter from their reserved and isolationist behavior, towards which the vast majority of the population tends, by ceasing to have contact – even visual contact – with their fellow human beings; in this anonymity, a certain greater personal freedom is breathed. It can easily be observed that the urban individual, whom Simmel calls the “urbanite”, is freer in comparison with the close, guarded and prejudiced relations of small towns or rural villages, which socially compress the inhabitant only because of their proximity and lower density.
Curiously, it is in the big cities where Simmel finds that the freedom from prejudice enjoyed by the urbanite becomes a refuge to solitude (Post WALKING AND THE ELECTION OF LONELINESS. PART I, Post WALK IN SOLITUDE, AN ANALOGY OF LIFE) and freedom ceases to be linked to the vital feeling of happiness, as a synonym of well-being. In other words, greater freedom will not always guarantee a higher level or degree of well-being.
It is therefore necessary to search for a new category that reduces the being to what it truly is in itself, freed from everything that is not akin to its nature and that is not essential to it. Practicing Laissez faire as a doctrine that will allow him to become “free” in the economic and social aspect, by leaving all forces – economic and social – in full freedom for the human being to reach his natural harmony and happiness.
In short, Simmel sees freedom as the goal and longing of a personal ideal expressed in the movement – or phenomenon – of individuation that re-emerges in the 18th-19th centuries as a massive demand of the population for a life of personal freedom without ties or oppressions imposed by a cosmopolitan society dominated by a few.
This ideal – sought in the armed movement of the French Revolution – also poses since then a (practical-theoretical) antagonism between two of its main objectives: freedom and equality; for freedom cannot occur naturally in an environment of complete equality and undifferentiating.
Freedom is complementary to diversity and tolerance of differences, hence it is wrongly placed in hostile and oppressive environments. Equality cannot be realized in capitalism either, because this system implies the levelling of all things, including the human being – because of its exchange value – and money, which trivializes the inner-external life of individuals and prevents a harmonious and satisfactory existence.
Freedom is not only the positive part of the phenomenon, equality is its indispensable condition, but the human being is affirmed in his free acting and feeling when he accepts that he is different before others, and this will be the premise that will give meaning to his being, to his existence within his human condition.
Its conceptual and functional link (relationship) with walking: We can say that for Georg Simmel, a sociologist who examined the interaction between the individual and society, freedom lies in the ability to distance oneself from social norms and conventional structures. Walking could be seen as a solitary activity that allows the individual to escape momentarily from social expectations, experiencing a sense of freedom by being on the move and breaking away from the usual constraints. For the same reason, we should walk as it is akin to our human nature and therefore essential. To achieve freedom, we would have to follow the laws of nature itself, i.e. by walking we could make it visible and also feel it, because its manifestation is synonymous with walking. To walk daily is to make freedom perpetual. Our existence will not be imposed on us by others.
Freedom, according to Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), is a state sought by the human being as an ontological entity and response, that is, required by the very essence of being. Achieving it implies the non-existence of impediments of all kinds and the lack of needs or the satisfaction of needs.
Depending on the type of needs and difficulties in satisfying them, the author defines three categories of freedom: physical, intellectual and moral.
Physical freedom is achieved voluntarily in the absence of material impediments. Political freedom is a derivation – or section – that belongs to the whole of physical freedom.
The author defines physical freedom as the power to act in the face of impediments, and moral freedom as the power to will. Moral freedom is free will.
Any category could be achieved by the absence of any “needy” force.
All needs present themselves to the being in terms of levels or degrees of being able to fulfil them. Thus the degree of a need determines the ontological will in the being’s acts to satisfy it.
As Schopenhauer demonstrates, every fact or phenomenon is governed by the universal principle of causality, no thing or circumstance escapes this law, which presents itself under three aspects, corresponding strictly to inorganic, vegetable and animal bodies, respectively: causation, excitation and motivation.
In causation, bodies are subjected to physical, chemical and mechanical transformations.
Excitation is the most representative form in the plant kingdom, as the changes or modifications that plants undergo are generated by this function.
Motivation is the form of causation unique to animals, including humans. It is the response that originates through understanding (depending on the level of intelligence on the animal scale), as it responds in addition to the other two categories to a requirement for understanding in order to analyze, appreciate and make deliberate choices to satisfy their needs.
In this category, arousal is complemented by a higher faculty that manifests itself as a response to motives (in exclusively sentient animals; in the sentient, abstract-thinking human being). Each response is provoked by a motive, which – in the human being – is transformed or converted into a will when it becomes conscious.
In this will, in this ability to choose, the power of free will is established, but for Schopenhauer it is a relative freedom. As there is no absolute power of the conscious self over the will, there can be no absolute freedom.
The author views the human character as individual, empirical, unchanging and innate, and thereby makes it clear that this dissimilarity is irreconcilable with the existence or the position of free will, in which a man can act in two equally opposite ways. The unborn being who, not having a conscience, might be thought to have no need and therefore: is he free or not? It can be argued that he is free insofar as he does not know his needs, but he is the most dependent and most constrained being insofar as he is absolutely dependent on the mother.
Schopenhauer describes some thoughts of philosophers before him and of other pseudo-thinkers on the doctrine of free will and likewise takes into account the positions of certain theologians on the subject. He focuses on these arguments of his predecessors and analyses them against the reasoning that if God created everything, including man, then any attitude (or decision) of man – considering the relation of causality and necessity-effect – is not responsible for it and therefore there is no free will, since the will would have no freedom of power to desire or not to desire. Schopenhauer mentions that this situation led the church to take hold of this problem and to determine that God had granted – by his divine grace – the human being free will, by means of which man can act freely for or against himself.
Schopenhauer, acknowledging the Kantian doctrine on the coexistence of freedom and necessity, concludes that the empirical need for action of the human being coexists with transcendental freedom, with that freedom that is not part of experience. It has been a mistake to attribute freedom to action, since the human being carries out his activities acting under a necessity that conditions him.
Man seeks to be what he desires and wants, and what he does depends on what he is. For Schopenhauer, freedom exists in man but outside the domain of his individual actions and can only be understood in its transcendental essence.
Its conceptual and functional link (relationship) with walking: We can say that Arthur Schopenhauer, as a philosopher, considered freedom as an unattainable ideal due to the impulsive and instinctive nature of human beings. For him, true freedom consisted in freedom from desires and passions: man can act freely for or against himself. To speak of freedom is to speak of the essence of being. Achieving freedom implies overcoming impediments of all kinds and satisfying the natural needs of the individual. Walking is a natural practice, therefore, walking is freedom. How well do we know that need to walk in ourselves? Knowing that need would put us on our feet immediately, its practice could be seen as a way to temporarily free the mind from worldly concerns, allowing a respite from the desires and ties that Schopenhauer considered limited true freedom.
EPILOGUE
There are 2 existential paths: one that leads us towards freedom and the other that opposes it. Let’s walk the first path and orient ourselves towards our natural freedom.
(1) Loya Pinera, Rodrigo & Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Visiting Inside the Artworks of Great Painters, EMULISA, Mexico, 2023. Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3GMC9KR.
(2) Loya Lopategui, Carlos & Pinera, Edel C. , Evanescent Stories, EMULISA, Mexico, 2021. Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B86GMS8W.
This post is a complementary part of Post THE BLOCKED WRITER AND THE WALKS, dedicated to the Plastic artist. I will repeat some aspects that I mentioned in that Post, because I consider it very important for those people who have the labor speciality in plastic creations, even for those who make them as a hobby; besides that the plastic specialties have been differentiating more between their different fields, than the literary ones; that is to say, we have been getting used to listen more “indications, invitations to works, samples in museums, etc.” about the different genres in painting, sculpture, graphic arts, design, and a dozen more categories of plastic arts; and for this reason I present, for this group of concomitant arts, the simple process to achieve the unblocking, based on essential elements of the WALK-RWD system, which can help us in cases of “mental blockage”, both light and intense.
We must distinguish between inhibition and blockage. To be inhibition or discouragement is to have lost the taste for the activity, for the subject, for the image, for what the motif represents, for the very reason why we decided to paint that picture, etc., in other words, it is to lose the “taste for doing”. Being blocked is due to another cause, such as the loss of inspiration, of creativity, specifically the interruption suffered in the flow of ideas, in this case of graphic, plastic, visual and pictorial ideas. However, at some point in the presence of any of these conditions, they inter-influence and sometimes confuse each other.
This is another of the great benefits that the WALK-RWD system has, helping to unblock those people who suffer from feeling blocked in their creative work, which allows through its application, concrete help in the improvement of both morbid stages.
“These inner conflicts and confusions will have one of two main (and several secondary) results: The artist will become completely inhibited and produce nothing, finding his talent imprisoned in the mesh of conflict, and will turn his back on art to some other activity. The other possibility is that he will deviate from his most fruitful line of development to produce defensive distortions of what would otherwise be more legitimately his own – namely, his own self, which, after all, is the source of his claim to originality”. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 22.
Concretely, I recommend two paths of action for plastic creators.
FIRST WAY: To have several options.
The first is that all plastic creators should have several possibilities in their productive work; not only to develop one work, but 2 or 3, in which they can unload their skill, creativity and ingenuity. That is to say, if they dedicate themselves to painting, to have several works in process in order to always have a more pleasant option than another.
You could also choose to work in another plastic genre, such as sculpture, artistic design, etc., in order to be able to produce several works alternatively, if you have felt blocked in any of them. We should always have several options of artistic plastic creation, so that the mind does not stop. If the blockage arises, we can move on to work on another work in the same plastic genre or in another, immediately; always alternating one and the other because the mind is freed in this way and can thus be re-channeled in its creative processes.
This is very important because the mind gets stuck, regularly when it remains “pressed” in the same work, due to lack of creativity. And it gets worse when we want to “rationally” force it to develop a job in which it no longer generates any creative process. That is why, when we take away this conscious pressure and give our mind other options to create, it dissipates – freeing itself from the purely conscious rational forms – and re-enters into its normal way of being prodigal in creating ideas and imagination.
The artist must know that he must not definitively interrupt his artistic creation, whichever way his unconscious leads him to communicate.
“The artist expresses only what he can express through the interpretative transformation of his unconscious. His masterpiece will be that which presents his central conflict, his most serious psychic wound”. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 330.
SECOND WAY: Walking.
Now, if we cannot count on several possibilities of simultaneous creative work, then we can use the alternative resource that is walking, which never fails; most of the time in an immediate way.
In this other way of action, I am addressing painters – but it is similar for any other person who has to develop creative activities, not only plastic works – who feel paralyzed in their creativity and artistic exercise and cannot continue painting the work they have started with a lot of enthusiasm; the only thing they have to decide is to go for a walk for a couple of kilometers (or miles) during some days (3 or 4) taking with them, in each walk, an interesting book, and related to the plastic theme they are developing (either text for the theme itself or a book specialized in paintings, for example, the 10 most famous painting works, etc.). ). Be willing to read some pages during your walks and not forget a sufficient number of blank sheets of paper (or a small notebook) to draw some sketches that come to your mind, to restart and continue with your own work (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART II). Any word or phrase will redirect you to your own document, unblocking it, or any plastic work that catches your attention can unblock it.
He must also know that his conscious function will be blocking his unconscious.
“When a man adheres so intensely to the image of his beloved, he reveals the fundamental characteristic of all great artists, precisely that adherence of his love, of his psychosexual energy, his intensity, his determination to possess that image, if not in reality, at least through the internalizing psychic process which consists in incorporating it literally, making it part of his own ego and projecting it infinitely, modeling it, restoring it, by way of unconscious atonement for having devoured it, by way of unconscious atonement for having devoured it. This is what analysts mean when they speak of the ‘restoration of the destroyed object’ through its recreation in art, thus losing ‘a piece of themselves’, but gaining through this process the reward, pleasure, and relief of art…. “. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 195.
This psychosexual energy is one of the ways in which the artist will be able to unblock himself when he knows of its existence (Future Post PSYCHOSEXUAL ENERGY AND WALKING).
Walking allows the unconscious to surface more easily, freeing it and encouraging the flow of ideas and greater creativity.
The steps to be taken are easy and concrete: 1) Start walking, 2) Start reading another document or a book about plastic works, 3) Abstract yourself entirely from your own work to be painted and concentrate on the text of others or on other paintings, 4) Continue in this way until the unblocking is achieved.
It is important to point out that the type of “document” or the book of plastic works to be accompanied during the walks must be analyzed in a certain way, so that it is ideal and effective, and is not another element that causes us rejection or boredom; it will have to be a document that attracts us in an extraordinary way.
The system does not fail and you will never be alone again when you feel blocked mentally, because you can always resort to this method, since it will allow you to free your imagination, your creativity and your intuition. In other words: it will free the unconscious from the shackles of consciousness and rationalism.
Let’s keep in mind that the enemies to defeat are rationalism and conscience, which are stubborn and cause blockage, for which I recommend these 4 previous steps within the second path, walking.
In short, there are two ways of action that can be exercised to avoid blockage, and they are complementary:
1. Have several options for simultaneous plastic creation, where the mind can freely choose which one it feels most attracted to, productive and creative, during daily moments of creative work.
2. Start walking reading, writing or drawing (WALK-RWD System).
Both courses of action are not exclusive and must be carried out permanently, that is, always give the mind several options in its process of creating, and walk every day for at least 20 to 30 minutes; and if you manage to get lost in your documents (texts and plastic images) -suggestive and stimulating-, continue with it as long as you are enjoying it, and thus your mental block will be eliminated.
I have no doubt that by staying alert with these 2 courses of action, no creator can ever remain blocked for more than 24 hours.
The Alpha Male is defined as an animal that by its very nature is conductive, that is, it is able to lead other elements of its own species and itself.
The definition of “Alpha Male” refers to a male who is perceived as the dominant leader in a social group, whether in an informal or formal situation. The term “alpha” has been generated in studies of animal behavior, in which the “alpha male” is the dominant leader of a group of animals. In popular culture, the term “Alpha Male” has been used to describe men who see themselves as dominant leaders in social situations, whether at work, in sports, or in social interaction in general. They are attributed to characteristics such as self-confidence, competence, security, bravery, and aggressiveness. However, they are also associated with toxic and discriminatory behaviors and attitudes such as misogyny, homophobia, and violence.
With respect to other animals, the term “Alpha Male” refers to the dominant position of a male within a social hierarchy of a group of animals. In nature, animals have complex social structures that allow them to cooperate and compete for resources. In many cases, males compete for access to females and resources such as food and territory.
The “Alpha Male” is the dominant leader of a group, and has preferential access to resources and females. In some cases, the “Alpha Male” also protects the group against predators and other dangers. The term originated – as already mentioned – in animal behavioral studies, and is used to describe the dominant male in many types of animals, including primates, wolves, lions and many others.
In general, the “Alpha Male” is characterized by having a high social status within the group, being aggressive and showing a strong ability to compete with other males to maintain his leadership position. However, there are also exceptions and variations in the way animals establish their social hierarchy and leadership. In some cases, males may be more collaborative and less aggressive leaders, and the term “Alpha Male” does not always apply.
With regard to the activity of leading members of a group, the term “Alpha Male” refers to a dominant male who leads and controls members of his species. He often leads and guides the other members of the group, ensuring that they follow his orders and maintain the cohesion of the group. He establishes his dominant position through aggression and intimidation towards other males in the group, and often uses physical power to impose his will. In addition, the alpha male may also use communication signals, such as growls and body postures, to establish his leadership position.
Once the alpha male has established his dominant position, it is common for him to guide and control group members, directing their behavior and movements. He may decide where to look for food and water, which routes to take to avoid danger and set a timetable for the group. In some cases, the alpha male may also make important decisions about breeding and mate selection.
However, it is important to note that not all animals have a social structure in which an alpha male dominates and controls other members of the group. Some species have more egalitarian social structures, where males and females have similar status and share responsibilities in decision-making and group protection.
The most prominent animal species, where the “Alpha Male” is considered to be dominant, leader and router, are the following:
1. Wolves: Wolves are animals that live in packs and have a hierarchical social structure in which the alpha male leads and directs the rest of the group.
2. Lions: Lions also live in hierarchical groups known as pride, where the alpha male is the leader and protector of the group.
3. Chimpanzees: Chimpanzees are social animals that live in communities led by an alpha male who establishes social order and controls the behavior of the other members of the group.
4. Elephants: In elephant herds, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the herd, and is responsible for making important decisions about foraging and protecting the group. However, there is a variant on this, as detailed below.
5. Gorillas: Gorillas live in hierarchical groups led by an alpha male who directs the behavior of the group and protects the females and young.
6. Bison: Bison form herds led by an alpha male who protects females and young and directs the behavior of the group.
7. Deer: In deer groups, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the group, and is responsible for defending the territory and selecting females for breeding.
Eagles: In eagle pairs, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the nest and brood, and is responsible for territory defence and foraging.
9. Orangutans: Male orangutans establish their leadership position and control the behavior of other group members through aggression and intimidation.
Some of the species that inhabit water and that can be observed significant Alpha Male behavior are:
1. Dolphins: Dolphins live in complex social groups led by an alpha male who directs the hunting and behavior of the group.
2. Sharks: In some shark species, such as the white shark and bull shark, Alpha Male behavior can be observed where the largest and strongest males dominate the other members of the group.
3. Whales: Humpbacks and gray whales live in nested groups led by an alpha female or alpha male who leads and protects the other members of the group.
4. Orcas: Orcas live in nested groups led by an alpha female or alpha male who directs group behavior and is responsible for foraging and group protection.
5. Catfish – In some catfish species, such as the yellow catfish, Alpha Male behavior can be observed where the largest and most dominant males control the feeding area and behavior of the group.
6. Hermit Crabs: In hermit crab groups, the alpha males are the largest and strongest, and they are the ones with access to the largest and most protected shells for their use.
It is important to note that not all species have Alpha Male behavior and that in some species the social structure is more egalitarian or female-led.
Furthermore, in nature there are some species where the female leads or leads the pack. That is, not all species have fixed hierarchy systems, and in some cases, leadership may vary depending on the situation or availability of resources. For example:
Elephants: Also in this species of animals the female leads, known as the matriarch. She makes important decisions for the herd, such as finding food and water, and guides the other members in various situations.
Hyenas: In hyena society, females occupy higher positions in the social hierarchy than males. The dominant female leads the group and has alpha status.
Lemurs: Some lemur species, such as the ring-tailed lemur, have social structures where females are the leaders and make decisions for the group.
Geese: Geese are also known to follow a matriarchal social system, alternating with males. The alpha female leads the group and plays an important role in protecting and guiding the group during migrations.
Regarding the action of Routing and Walking of the Alpha Male, we must mention that the alpha male does not necessarily go to the head of the group or in front of it. In each group of animals, their position varies: in most of them, at the beginning, they lead their herd with their walk, but in others, they place themselves in a position that allows them to direct them but also watch out for attacks by predatory animals and also watch over the largest number of its members (components), especially the pups (puppies) and the elderly and weak or sick.
Regarding the aquatic fauna, there must be other types of behavior, but we leave this area aside.
It is very simple to understand how the alpha male leads his group with his walk.
His direction is his own way of walking, it is a routing to the group; that is to say direct, accompany, orient, focus, regulate, adjust, establish, govern, administer, guide, drive, show, arrange, act, drag, move, comply, adjust, lead, carry, transport, carry, push, command, organize, govern and straighten his pack all the time.
Finally I would say that it is not necessary to be an alpha male or even something that looks like it to walk, that’s right: what are we waiting for, let’s start walking!
Julián Marías uses the word “empiricism” to mean -perhaps- that it is a current of thought that is far from being an acceptable discipline for the creative and cognitive functions of the human being (Posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE), since it provides us with results coming from experience and not by reasoning, implying (?) that one must think and reason with the mind and for this there are other currents that are based on this principle. (*)
Perhaps this is what Marías wanted to convey with the word “literally”, however, regardless of his philosophical or etymological reasons, his “ironic” locution is very valid, since the feet play a fundamental role in making our mind work better.
I am going to base myself on the latter to elucidate and clarify the subject.
My thesis in this respect is the following. When the human being stood upright on his lower limbs, he generated a vertical flow of force and energy, from his feet to his head, following a perpendicular line to the ground on which he was walking.
According to anthropological experts, before this position, the hominid ancestors of “Homo Sapiens” moved on their four limbs and this flow ran through their body as shown in the following image, avoiding (eluding) the perpendicularity, as they denied it (they blocked it, limited it, inhibited it, hindered it, avoided it, prevented it, prevented it) with their transverse, almost horizontal position. At the present time, this can be confirmed and validated as an absolute truth.
The angle θ, in the best of hominid positions, was close to 45°, whereas when they rose and became Homo Sapiens that angle reached 90°.
The increase in brain mass and IQ, the same circle of anthropological experts, associate it with the fact that he was able to free his hands and transform himself into Homo Faber (Future Post HOMO FABER AND HIS TRASCENDENT WALK). This is also true. However, it was that vertical flow that developed his brain with the greatest efficiency and greatness. My thesis is: his verticality generated a flow -circulatory- from his feet to his head, creating a kind of fountain of creation and intelligence and with a more vigorous power and strength.
In the following figure we can observe the evolution of the flow line, until it reaches the perpendicular.
This hominid rose up in the same way that plants rise up when they fall to the ground for a certain reason, keeping themselves alive, looking for that perpendicularity.
This is very often observed in coconut palms, on the seashore, and especially in young plants, when they are blown to the ground by strong winds, because their trunks bend and do not break, and their roots remain stuck to the earth (or sand). After a short time, they begin to rise at the top.
It is a living and moving spectacle that we can observe in nature.
It is often explained that these palms seek the sun, and it is true, but the fundamental reason is that it is the position which enables them to grow strong and secure, but the great thing is that they live longer and more vigorously in this way.
Let us return to our thoughts on Empiricism, if one who is experiencing can think (to paraphrase Lessing: “I prefer to return to my path, if one who is walking can have a path”).
The mind allows us to reason and imagine – among other functions – which leads us to estimate how circumstances – of whatever kind – will present themselves in the future.
Experience is what we got from our actions, because we decided to act or were forced to act. Those acts represent attempts at reasoning, thinking or some other function of our mind, even though they are qualities of our brain. Hence we can conclude that the empirical is the real, it is supported by experience. In other words, and coming closer to the epistemological: the empirical is the knowledge obtained a posteriori.
In one of my writings, on 17 May 1991, I expressed: “I do not know of other things, but my spirit dwells in my hands. Of my intellect I do not know, but my spirit dwells in my hands”, referring exclusively to my artistic creation, to my creative spirit; many years later, in December 2020, reading what Rousseau wrote: “I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I stop thinking; my mind works only with my legs” (O’Mara in his book In Praise of Walking: Rousseau, J. J. and Cohen, J. M., 1953, The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Penguin), oriented me to the fact that my mind dwells in my legs and feet, referring to my thoughts, my reasoning. I had already acquired this understanding through my deeper studies and analysis of walking, which I carried out during the last months of 2005. What Rousseau said helps me to reaffirm it.
The feet are bellows [feet = bellows that drive the flow of blood and nutrients to all parts of the human body] that belong to the lower extremities and work together with the rest of their constituent parts (components): legs, thighs, knees, ankles, toes. They supply various elements and substances to the rest of the body, supporting it and supplying it with blood and other nutrients that the body generates itself.
The more we use our feet while walking, the more effective is this blood supply to the whole physical body and the brain.
While it is the heart that has the function of propelling the blood to all parts of the body, the feet are its main helpers – walking – to achieve this in a more efficient, harmonious and relaxed (restful) way (**), which without this help the heart would usually work harder to achieve.
(**) Blood is propelled to all parts of the body by the heart, which is the engine of blood circulation. The heart is a strong, steady muscle that pumps blood through a system of arteries and veins. The heart is divided into four chambers: the two atria and the two ventricles. The right atrium receives oxygen-poor blood from the body and pumps it into the right ventricle, which propels it to the lungs to be oxygenated. The left atrium receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it into the left ventricle, which pushes it out to the rest of the body. From the heart, blood flows into the arteries, which are the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to different parts of the body. The blood travels through the arteries to the capillaries, the smallest and thinnest blood vessels that allow the blood to interact with the body’s cells. The deoxygenated blood returns from the tissues through the veins, which carry it back to the heart to be oxygenated again. In short, the heart propels blood to all parts of the body through a system of arteries and veins, allowing the constant circulation of blood and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells.
This bellows energy that is generated by the feet, as they rise and fall while walking, is similar to the energy that trees generate to move the substances they process up from the root level to the highest leaf canopies [bellows that drive the flow or sap of plants].
In Future Post WALKING WITH THE TREES, I have made certain analyses and calculations, obtaining the amounts and conclusions that are set out below. These are data that can be considered definitive, however, they may suffer some slight adjustments from this moment to the date of publication, which I have scheduled for March 15, 2024.
Transpiration of plants is the vital (capital, crucial, fundamental, essential, central, strategic) moment when they start to transfer and deliver their nutrients to us. In the whole process of generation of nutrients that have allowed them to feed themselves over a period of time, this point of elimination of excesses or waste represents an essential function – recurrent and enduring – for the survival of all living beings on the planet (***).
(***) Trees, as has been defined, do not dispose of a specific volume of easily defined surplus. The process of nutrient generation in trees involves photosynthesis, in which leaves capture energy from the sun and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. The glucose is used for the growth, reproduction and maintenance of the tree. In this process, trees also produce waste substances, such as additional oxygen or small amounts of organic compounds that are not used by the tree. In addition, they take up other substances from the soil through their roots. However, these quantities are minimal compared to the amount of nutrients that the tree produces – by taking them from its environment and the subsoil – and uses for its growth. The volume of waste produced by a tree cannot be calculated in a precise and generalised way, as it varies according to various factors, such as tree species, age, environmental conditions and nutrient availability. In addition, tree litter may also include fallen leaves, dead branches or uneaten fruit, which contribute to nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The process of nutrient generation is complex and dynamic, which makes it difficult to calculate, but certain results were reached.
According to the results obtained in the aforementioned post, this transpiration or elimination reaches 0.004729911 m3/hectare/day, which on a global scale represents an emulsion of 4,060,000,000 x 0.004729911 = 19.2 million cubic meters that are spread in the earth’s atmosphere by plant transpiration every day.
The following table shows the power generated by trees – of different heights – in a normal climatic state, during their lifetime; and the comparison with the power generated by the feet of a human being, when walking a given number of kilometers or miles.
According to the results obtained in the same Post, the FORCE generated by our feet in their performance when walking, combined mechanically with the rest of the components of the lower limbs, equivalent to a power of 9 Watts or 0.012 HP, is required to perform a normal walk of 30.45 Kilometers or 18.91 Miles. This performance is equal to the power generated by a water pump during 60 seconds of work. A 27.5 meter high tree manages to generate the same power equivalent of 9 Watts in 9.45 days of its life.
The average lifespan of a tree is 30 years, so it will be able to perform this operation 1,158 times during its lifetime, releasing its beneficial substances into its environment.
The ability of trees to take all the substances they process – RED ARROWS – from the soil by means of their roots and from the environment with their leaves, trunks and stems, up to the highest parts of them, and it is the leaves, in greater quantity, – but also their stems and trunks -, by which the substances already processed, dislodge them to the outside environment, disseminating them to places – with the help of the air and the wind – up to hundreds of kilometers away from their fixed place, is pointed out.
This simile of the generation of Force and Power of walking with the trees is the basis for the mechanism that occurs with the feet and which gave the Post its name, since it is this quality that makes the brain function better.
Finally, I would like to write down (transcribe) the 4th Principle of the WALK-RWD system, which has been developed through the analysis of the function that the feet have and develop in the human body, together with the results that we have obtained in other Posts that we will present in the future.
4th Principle of Upright Verticality
“Every human being must walk permanently achieving a position of uprightness to optimally perform the tasks and functions as Homo Faber and Homo Sapiens Sapiens, to promote, strengthen, expand and increase them “.
(*) Webster’s dictionary defines Empiricism as follows: “1 a) a former school of medical practice founded on experience without the aid of science or theory, b) quackery, charlatanry; 2 a) the practice of emphasizing experience especially of the sense of the practice or method of relying upon observation, experimentation, or induction rather than upon intuition, speculation, deduction, dialectic, or other rationalistic means of the pursuit of knowledge b) a tenet arrived at empirically; 3 a) the theory associated especially with the British philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume that all knowledge originates in experience, b) logical empiricism, radical empiricism, or scientific empiricism.”
