Natural or Artificial?

"Natural and Artificial.” We hear and use these words a lot in our day-to-day lives: but do we know what they mean? Let’s put some definitions to the words in an attempt to get some meaning behind them.

• Natural- existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind; coming instinctively to a person; innate.

• Artificial- made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, typically as a copy of something natural not existing naturally.

To summarize: Natural- produced by nature; Artificial- produced by humans.

So then what is Nature?

• Nature- the phenomena of the physical world collectively; the forces and processes that produce and control all the phenomena of the material world.

Nature is the source that organizes all that we perceive and not perceive. What is the source? I guess that depends on what you learned in Sunday school.

Some call it God, to others, Jehovah, Shiva, Allah, Spirit, Mother Nature, etc.. Please understand that the ‘source’ isn’t only recognized by the religious or spiritual. Albert Einstein even coined a term for that mysterious ‘something.’ He called it The Field.

Whatever the name, it has the characteristic of being organized energy. D.D. Palmer, the Discover of Chiropractic called this organized energy “Universal Intelligence.” It’s interesting to note that over ten years before “the world’s most famous equation” (E=mc2) was proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905, D.D. Palmer (the Discoverer of Chiropractic) made a similar observation about the relationship between matter and energy:

“As the Intelligent Energy that operates the human machine is derived from an Infinite Source, the Universal Intelligence…”

R. W. Stephenson, D.C. later took the writings of D.D. Palmer and B.J. Palmer, the Developer of Chiropractic, and formed the chiropractic principles; starting “a priori” with the Major Premise:

"A Universal Intelligence is in all matter and continually gives to it all its properties and actions, thus maintaining it in existence."

Just because chiropractic accepts the world as intelligent, it doesn’t make chiropractic a religion. Most religions make this observation of intelligence and take it a step further and give it some sort of personality:

"It is important to remember that the chiropractic concept of a Universal Intelligence is a principle of organization. While it may share some of the attributes of God: omnipresent, without solicitude, and immutable, the concept of God has the characteristics of love, justice, righteousness, and personality. None of which are a part of Universal Intelligence." - Joseph B. Strauss DC.

Speaking as a chiropractor, I can look around at the world and make the observation that there is intelligence and organization. The sun will always rise and set, gravity will always cause the keys in my hand to drop if I let them go, the nerve system will always control the functioning of the human body, etc.

Some might argue that “we are a product of nature, so what we make must be good, if not, better for us.” But it is important to remember one simple fact:

“The product is always less than the producer” -Dr. BJ Kale.

The definition of artificial tells us we can try and copy nature by artificial means. But is a copy ever greater than the original? We as humans are a product of nature, so no matter how hard we try, we will never improve the products produced by nature. And since we are a product of nature, nature will always reign supreme.

So is artificial or natural better for you? When something is presented to you as artificial, is it regarding your particular needs? What do you need with regard to your health care? Artificial muscle stimulation? Artificial chemicals packaged into a pill? Artificial flavorings and ingredients in your food?

Modern materialistic scientists have tried to separate us from nature by saying that nature is the world as it exists without human beings. And since it is separate from us, we don’t need to follow its same rules and regulations. But don’t forget that we are indeed a product of nature. And as a product of nature, we can benefit most from what nature provides. The most natural form of health care I can think of is Chiropractic.

Chiropractic is based on things natural:

“Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art of things natural; a system of adjusting the segments of the spinal column by hand only, for the correction of the cause of dis-ease.” - Chiropractic Textbook

Chiropractic is about letting the source within express at its greatest potential. How is this done? The nerve system is our body’s source for connecting us to our environmental source, the world around us.

The nerve system controls every movement we make, senses everything we feel, regulates our body organs and relates us to the outside world. The main relay center for the nerve system is the brainstem. The brainstem runs all the way down to the first and second cervical vertebrae or bones of the neck.

The brainstem contains all nerve tracts of the body. The brainstem connects the brain to the rest of the body. It connects the brain to the body and the body to the brain.

The main concern of mine as an Upper Cervical Chiropractor is with the vertebral subluxation. When the two top bones slip and get locked out of normal alignment, the brainstem channel gets smaller in diameter. The smaller diameter compresses and irritates the brainstem and surrounding tissue.

This compression effects the brainstem and its ability to send functional information. This is called a vertebral subluxation. Visualize your aorta, the largest artery in your body, with a rubber band wrapped around it. It is safe to say that your aorta would not be functioning at its greatest with this added pressure around it. The same can be said with what a vertebral subluxation does to your brainstem.

This added pressure on this delicate nerve tissue disrupts it ability to function. If the brainstem can’t function at its best, the body as a whole can't function at its best. This disruption over time can form abnormal bodily processes.

Let us get closer to the natural source. Getting closer to the source, whatever it might be in: food, relationships, thoughts, health choices, etc., the better off we will be.

What is more natural than to let that which connects us to nature be expressed at its greatest potential?

- Dr. Jarek Esarco

Related Blogs:

1. In The Beginning…There Was Health

Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.