Detail Matters
By vishwa on Health, Inspiration, Nutrition, Training
August 18, 2016
I am reading a book titled Move Your DNA, which is written by Katy Bowman, a bio mechanist. She introduces us to one of the chapter in the book by providing this excerpt. It’s from a book titled Nature’s Garden: A guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants authored by Samuel Thayer. Katy compares her viewpoint about the innate structure of a biological system which is similar to the cardiovascular system and the way that the pattern of exercise that we perform lacks in detail.
The excerpt.
“Whoever first said “The Devil is in the details” must not have likes details. And I doubt that he was an economic botanist. Because when it comes top edible wild plants, the miracle is in the details. It is the details that give one the power not only to identify plants, but also to select the best specimens among them… So do not shy away from details: and don’t resent Nature for being so replete with complexity. That is its glory, not its downfall. We owe our very intelligence to this miraculous complexity. It is not the burden of the naturalist to learn this complexity; it is the awesome reality. More than anything else, which of these attitudes you choose will determine your success. So learn your details with pride, and experience them with gratitude. Let the details excite you—for there are enough of them to excite you for the rest of your life.”
On a similar note, Albert Einstein, the world famous physicist considered the greatest of twentieth century, had rightly affirmed about bees. He said, “Remove the bees from the earth and at the same stroke you remove at least one hundred thousand plants that will not survive.” Rightly so! The most important thing that bees do is pollinate. Pollination is essential for plants to reproduce. Several plants depend on bees or other insects as pollinators. Usually when bees collect nectar the pollen from the stamens—the male reproductive organ of the flower, sticks to the hair of the bee. When the bee visits the next flower, some of this pollen, which has stuck to the hair rubs off onto the stigma—the female reproductive organ of the flower. This leads to fertilization—fruit–seeds develop. Moreover, the essential detail also lies in the plants, for they attract bees. Bees are drawn to plants with open or fat tubular flowers with lots of pollen and nectar. Also, the flower’s scent can have particular appeal to bees, and its bright colors may entice the bees. So, honey bee is required for pollination of various food crops, almonds, apples, avocados, etc. Its presence is absolutely essential for our existence. Moreover, the beauty as the author says lies in all these details.
Ironically, it is true as Katy says that we lack observing the detail while we blindly perform the exercise. Day in and day out we perform a similar set of exercise and repeat that neglecting the detail. For example, as Katy says we have three hundred skeletal muscles but the question is whether we are justifying by moving them all! Of course, we are wrong. At the same time, we are helpless to discover something better. Given the present predicament we indeed forget the details and stop enjoying it.
Nevertheless, I endorse the views of Katy and Samuel. Likewise, you know that I have been practicing Tai Chi—martial art since one and half year. Several times I hear Sensei—master saying that utmost importance has to be given to details. Ha! Now, it rings a bell. Moreover, when somebody seconds your view, it starts to make more sense.
PS: We are helpless to do something better, as we are all constrained by time. We want to get more exercise done in less time—efficiency. Alas! We tend to forget the details.