Final general concept
This concept can only be discussed by integrating life into the study of anatomy.
We can no longer discuss anatomy without integrating the concept of life and living matter.
We cannot simply use in vitro observations to form hypotheses about how a living body functions. It must be the other way round. We must use these observations from inside living bodies as a starting point for reflection about the organisation and behavior of living matter.
For more than 20 years I have attempted to demonstrate the organisation and behavior of the matter of which human beings are made. This differs from previous research because it was carried out inside living people during surgical procedures. This exploration of living matter was made possible by the emergence of new technology such as high definition cameras, digital imaging and editing software. It can be easily carried out by any surgeon as well as being accessible to any observer, and therefore easily verifiable.
I have produced films to demonstrate and attempt to explain that the skin does not resemble a tight-fitting cloak, and that the skin do not cover the body like a carpet, that muscles are not only composed of contractile cells, that tendons are not just poorly vascularised structures that resemble ropes, that the sliding systems are not just virtual spaces and that cells do not fill up the entire body.
As a surgeon who is well versed in anatomy, I have come to realise that some of the “accepted truths” and assertions transmitted from generation to generation by anatomists are at best incomplete, and at times completely false.
Intratissular endoscopy has opened a window into human living matter and is documented in my films, photos and books. I feel the time has come to try and look at things from a different perspective and attempt to grasp the bigger picture. Doors have gradually begun to open specific fields such as mathematics, physics, cosmology, meteorology, statistics, financial systems, etc. Our relationship with the natural world has begun to change, and we are starting to engage in a dialogue with nature instead of attempting to control it.
During my years as a surgeon I gradually developed a critical mind that encouraged me to study the subjects of which I am about to write. New scientific knowledge acquired through reading sparked my curiosity and brought new discoveries that questioned my beliefs and philosophical certainties.
We tend to have a fairly simplistic idea of the body, with the organs carrying out specific functions, connected to each other by connective tissue. We also expect cells to be found everywhere, filling the maximum amount of space, and responsible for a vast spectrum of functions in the living body.
We are taught that body is composed of separate elements held together by an inert packing tissue. We tend to consider the body as some sort of well designed machine with entrances and exits. However, this is all rather sketchy and simplistic. The anatomy described by Vesalius and our elders must now be reconsidered in the light of current scientific thinking that integrates life sciences with modern physics and new mathematics.