If you cut off a finger or even an arm, you can continue living. But if we cut off your head, everything shuts down immediately, like flicking a switch. From this little fact, our conventional wisdom says the head is the boss of the body. The head is like a conductor in an orchestra; it knows everything.
Japanese biologists at the University of Tokyo disagree with this notion. Their view is that we give too much credit to the head; in fact, more communication happens among our organs that the brain knows nothing about.
For example, we know that our kidneys are a filtration system. They sieve out waste in the blood, which become urine, and redirect all the nutrients and blood cells back into the bloodstream. The Japanese found out that when our oxygen levels are low in the blood, the kidneys produce a protein called erythropoietin (EPO) and dump it into the bloodstream – it’s like an alarm signal. The EPO gets absorbed by our bones, and they produce more red blood cells to transport more oxygen.
Where’s the boss in this instance? The brain knows nothing about this. In fact, the organs are essentially talking to each other directly.
Interestingly, Western philosophy is centred around a boss who makes all the decisions. Even in religion, God is ultimately the boss who knows everything – the Alpha and the Omega, the King of Kings.
But not according to eastern philosophy. In the east, there is no boss. Instead, there is an interconnected ecosystem where everything that exists plays a critical role in keeping the whole system going.
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Interestingly, Western classical music depends on there being a composer – the ultimate boss. The conductor then interprets the composition and injects their soul into the piece, which comes alive through the orchestra. It’s clear who’s boss.
In traditional African music, and dare I include Asian music, we seldom know who the composer was – we only know the occasion for singing a certain song. In fact, African music evolves over hundreds of years like a dialect. And when singing together, everybody listens and responds to the energy of the other. There is no boss, just an inter-communication similar to the kidneys and the bones.
…and so I wonder whether we can run companies like a jazz band rather than an orchestra. Or maybe both – a Jazz Orchestra?
