Visiting the *Ottawa Museum of Nature and the **’Inside Out exhibit’ offers a truly unique perspective on physiology. Two things stood out to us in stark relief. First off in comparison to other land mammals and ancient monsters we are not very sturdy, highlighting the clear need to exercise regularly for physical integrity in such non physical times.
Second and equally as obvious was just how crammed/packed in all our innards actually are. So much is folded and wound around inside such a small cavity. Being able to see the dimensions in 3D shows just how little room there is to accumulate extra unneeded fat without choking off function.
When you see the human in person it stands out that our musculature is set up with glutes for the motions of squatting down and standing up with dense forearms and articulate hands. We look somewhat fragile compared to the inner hearty structure of most animals and pale by comparison to creatures like dinosaurs (look at the comparison of T to T Rex in the video :n). Basically we are heavily set in the brain category with a compact cash of organs.
We have very little of the built in raw defences of claws, horns, humps or multiple stomaches. Even compared to the many small species displayed we do not share the agile and stealthy abilities which support actual physical fight or flight. Even a cursory overview from this unique internal perspective points out how reliant we have become on thinking and building (with opposable thumbs ;n) to get by. Our visit certainly further solidified our point of view that modern man must use their head and understanding to thrive. Moreover, that our thin skin physiology is vulnerable and well deserving of attention and care.
*Admission to permanent exhibits is free Thursday’s after 5:00pm. http://nature.ca/en/home
** On until Sept 20 2015 http://nature.ca/en/plan-your-visit/what-see-do/our-exhibitions/animal-inside-out
Be Well,
Andrew and Tierney
-WeFit
wefit.ca 