Understanding Man

  

    The term man came from Proto-Germanic mannaz "man, person" and words derived from it can designate any or even the entire human race regardless of their sex or age.

 

    One definition of man is an intelligence served by organs according to Waldo. For some they defined man as being with biophysical and mental state.

 

    Different philosophies, cultures or groups of people have various definitions of man. This book defines man as follows.

 

    Man as a functionally dynamic biophysical, psycho-emotional, intellectual, social, sexual and spiritual (biophysicopsychoemotiointellectosociosexospirito) being in which the totality of each aspect is synergistic or desynergistic (antithy) to each other. 

 

    Understanding the meaning of man and its aspects leads to better delivery of care to attain human functional wellbeing. The aspects of man include the following:

    - Biophysical

    - Psychological                       

    - Intellectual

    - Social

    - Sexual

    - Emotion    

    - Spiritual

 
SYNERGY

 

    Synergy simply means working together and it occurs when one aspect of a person interact in ways that enhance or magnify one or more. It further describes a situation where different parts cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. In human, synergy is best exhibited in interactions.

 

INTERPERSONAL SYNERGY

 

    Say, person A alone can walk for 2 kilometers while person B can walk 3 kilometers. If they walk together they can walk not only 5 kilometers but greater than 5 it can be 7 kilometers.

In synergy, 1 + 1= >2, or 1 + 1= 2.5 or, 1+1 = 7. It can be 1+1 = 9  

 

INTRAPERSONAL SYNERGY

 

    Synergy is also displayed intrapersonally. That is, when two or more aspects of an individual, say intellectual and physical aspects, cause him to be better than one who let one aspect of life dominate the whole of him.

 

    A very popular history maker who is unbeatable in the field of music globally is Ludwig Van Beethoven. He was a German composer and pianist. At 26, he started to develop tinnitus which caused complete deafness. Prior to this defect, he has been known in his musical performances. Beethoven later expressed his symptoms and the difficulties of being deaf to his friends since it caused a drastic change in both his professional and social life.

 

    Beethoven, on the advice of his doctor, lived in the small Austrian town just outside Vienna in an attempt to come to terms with his condition. But then he resolved to continue living for and through his art. Beethoven did not let this unpleasant condition bring him down. Instead of allowing it to cause a de-synergistic effect on his life, he chose to let his passion, strength and influence in music produce a synergistic effect.

 

    Another example is John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928), an American mathematician and economist whose works in game theory, differential geometry, and partial differential equations gained popularity. During the later part of his life, he contributed the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

 

    Nash is also the subject of the Hollywood movie A Beautiful Mind, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards (winning four). The film, based very loosely on the biography of the same name, focuses on Nash's mathematical brilliance and his struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. Though he was psychologically disturbed, his intellectual strength brought him to height in history.

 

DE-SYNERGY

 

    On the other hand, de-synergy has a detrimental effect on an individual. Ereblog’s Journal terms de-synergy as “antithy.” It defined it as a “detrimental mixing of two or more elements that produces a result less than each individual’s capacity.” Thus, it simple negates the principle of synergy that the whole is greater than the some of its parts.

 

    Such h “1 that 1 = < 2”.It  can be  1 + 1= 1.5, or 1 + 1= 0.5.

 

    For instance, there are some people who are physically healthy but suffer from psycho-emotional problem that causes them to be depressed leading to a personality disorder. The example above explains how the psycho-emotional aspect of man can cause de-synergic effect on his personality.

By DR. RICHARD VINCENT V. NARAG, MD, INVR, BSN