Jenner's Whorl (The ear, eye, skin, gut, brain worm that eats & remakes),
—or, Nature's Whirl?
A cautionary tale by a caustic, cynical old man, mani malagón, & a sycophantic, pedantic, hallucinatory anti-intelligence (A•I), Claude 4.0. “There is no stasis, —life is constant flux, descent with modification & selection.” — A 22nd century creche child’s credo.
On the 25th anniversary of the liftoff of Jenner’s mission to Mars, there was no official celebration, just both of his triplet brothers gathering at the Progressive Memorial erected in his memory. Of course, the Progressives, which all political connoisseurs instinctively understand, represented the reactionary Luddites which had immediately, upon receipt of the crash-box signal 15-minutes after the catastrophe occurred, blamed the technocratic elite that had advertised the mission as “man’s sure reach to Mars, then outreach to the stars,” but never acknowledged a potential failure mechanism.
In any event, two 65-year old men who started life identically, now recalled, —one with a distorted facial expression, the other from his motor-assisted wheelchair—the pride they had felt as their energetic, cocksure, brilliant brother had smiled as he ventured into mankind’s greatest invention: a life-like ship that protected from solar radiation, yet sustained fragile life over the course of lengthy outer space travel. Artificial gravity, artificial light, artificial food, artificial suspension —a magical blend of complex science that no single individual comprehended.
Hammer, the oldest triplet, by 20-minutes, suffered a stroke the previous year. He had done everything right. An avid tennis player who only ate vegetables & insect protein & assiduously avoided alcohol, cigarette & sun exposure. He & his wife had avoided having children to lessen Earth’s human burden. His eyes darted behind protective dark glasses as he glanced at the sterile memorial in the morning sunlight. His slurred words, “I have a feeling that Jenner’s still out there, that somehow he surmounted the difficulties & survived,” were a bit irritating to his brother, Werner.
The middle brother, Werner, after the emergence of his elder, had been excised from his mother’s womb when it was determined he was in crisis. It had always been ironic to Werner, that Jenner, the youngest, had developed into the most vigorous of the three. But Werner had amassed a fortune. The calculating nature of his mental projections, with a near-mathematical certainty, had over time compounded each of his financial successes & catapulted him to control an empire. But now he was plagued with high cholesterol & diabetes, both pharmaceutically controlled; &, what was worse, his decisions had faltered & erred over the past few years. The slow weight gain he had experience in his 30’s & 40’s had ballooned into corpulence. Now he preferred movement in his extended capability mobility device.
Unknown to either brother, or anyone on Earth for that matter, Jenner had survived & in fact, flourished on Mars. After the crash & a long dismal march through difficult terrain & desert, he discovered an uninhabited alien settlement. As his food & water depleted, Jenner came to understand the village was designed to provide for its inhabitants' every need—comfort, safety & survival—but insidiously, only through gradual biological modification & imprisoning dependency. He eventually underwent a complete transformation:
"Ecstatically, Jenner wriggled his four-foot tail, &, lifted his long snout to let the thin streams of liquid wash away the food impurities that clung to his sharp teeth. Then he waddled out to bask in the sun, & listen to the timeless music." [A E van Vogt, Enchanted Village, 18.]
The Five-Pathway Modification
The village's transformation operated through sensory gateways:
Ear: Acoustic frequencies that initially seemed jarring became beautiful as his auditory processing modified to appreciate alien harmonics & tonalities, —neurological rewiring.
Eye: Light spectra that initially seemed harsh became optimal as his visual systems were modified to process alien illumination, —retinal restructuring.
Skin: Chemical contacts that initially seemed irritating became comfortable as his dermal barriers were modified to process alien atmospheres, —cellular modification.
Gut: Nutrition that initially seemed indigestible became satisfying as his digestive systems were modified to process alien biochemistry, —metabolic reprogramming.
Brain: Thoughts that initially seemed alien became natural as his cognitive systems were modified to integrate with village information networks, —mental colonization.
The Completed Transformation
Jenner was no longer biologically human. Extensive modifications ensured that Earth's atmosphere would kill him, Earth's food would poison him, & Earth's environment would be incompatible with his altered physiology.
But he was happy. The village had successfully modified his biology & his capacity for happiness itself. His rewired neural system & brain perceived dependency as satisfaction. He had become the village's perfect resident: satiated, satisfied & smug.
The Enchanted Village had worked exactly as designed—until it didn't, because permanent & perfect homeostasis is a form of death. It is a loss of resiliency.. Like its original inhabitants, Jenner's modifications eventually lead to biological dead ends that comfort masks, but does not resolve.
Part II: Hammer's Whorl - The Health Zealot's Prison
The Perfect Health Protocol
Back on Earth, Hammer watched his autistic son struggle with developmental delays that began immediately after his first vaccination. The doctors insisted the timing was coincidental. Hammer suspected otherwise & threw himself into researching optimal health with the obsession that had made him successful in everything else.
Hammer became the perfect health citizen:
Strict vegetarian diet with organic-only foods
Zero alcohol, zero tobacco, zero "toxins"
Daily tennis with UV-protective clothing & pharmaceutical-grade sunscreen
Supplement regimens that cost more than most families' food budgets
Annual health screenings with the most expensive preventive medicine available
Fluoride-free water after researching studies showing IQ reductions in children exposed to municipal water fluoridation: he only drank deuterium enriched pure water
The Health Village's Seduction
The medical-industrial complex provided Hammer with his own Enchanted Village version: a comprehensive health optimization system that promised to prevent every possible ailment through technological intervention and increase longevity.
Like Jenner's village, it seemed helpful. Like Jenner's village, each intervention created the need for the next intervention. Like Jenner's village, it raised the question: if health optimization was so effective, why did the most health-obsessed populations often show declining rather than improving health outcomes?
The Five-Pathway Health Modification
Ear: Constant health podcasts, medical advice, & optimization content replaced contemplative silence. Hammer's acoustic environment became dominated by information about what he should fear & what he should buy to prevent it.
Eye: Obsessive monitoring of health metrics, biomarker tracking, & optimization data replaced intuitive awareness of his body's actual condition. His visual attention became captured by screens displaying data about his health rather than direct experience of his health.
Skin: Chemical sunscreens, protective clothing, & avoidance of natural UV exposure replaced evolutionary UV adaptation mechanisms. His skin became dependent on technological protection while losing its natural resilience.
Gut: Processed health foods, synthetic supplements, & elimination diets replaced evolutionary dietary wisdom. His digestive system became dependent on controlled inputs while losing its ability to process environmental variation.
Brain: Algorithmic health optimization, medical app dependencies, & expert authority worship replaced somatic intelligence. His cognitive autonomy became subordinated to technological health guidance systems
The Stroke at 64
Despite—or perhaps because of—his perfect health protocol, Hammer suffered a debilitating stroke at 64. The irony was lost on him & his medical team. Instead of questioning whether his health optimization system had created the very problems it claimed to prevent, they doubled down.
Post-stroke Hammer became even more dependent on medical technology: blood thinners, cardiac medications, blood pressure monitoring, cognitive rehabilitation protocols, & an expanded supplement regimen designed to prevent another stroke.
The Completed Health Modification
Hammer was completely dependent on his health optimization system. He wouldn't eat without consulting nutritional databases. He wouldn't exercise without monitoring devices. He wouldn't make health decisions without medical algorithms. He wouldn't sleep without technological optimization protocols.
Like Jenner, he was satisfied with his condition, —his capacity for satisfaction had been modified to perceive dependency as health optimization. He experienced contentment in his technological health cocoon. He had convinced himself that independent biological function was primitive & dangerous.
The health village had worked exactly as designed—but like the original Enchanted Village, it created modifications that eliminated the biological flexibility necessary for genuine health & adaptation
Part III: Werner's Whorl - The Executive's Metabolic Prison
Corporate Optimization
Werner was the business triplet, the one who understood that modern success required environmental control. His high-rise office maintained perfect 64°F temperature year-round through climate control systems. His luxury vehicles maintained the same temperature so his expensive suits never suffered perspiration damage.
He optimized everything: his schedule, his nutrition, his exercise, his environment. He pre-loaded carbohydrates before squash games to ensure optimal energy. He worked out at exclusive athletic clubs with perfect environmental controls. He ate optimized meals designed for executive performance.
The Corporate Village's Seduction
The corporate lifestyle provided Werner with his own enchanted village: a completely controlled environment that eliminated all environmental stressors while promising optimal performance & comfort.
Like his brothers' villages, it seemed helpful. Like his brothers' villages, each optimization created the need for additional optimization. & like the original village, it raised the question: if corporate optimization was so effective, why did the most optimized executives often show the highest rates of metabolic dysfunction & premature mortality?
The Five-Pathway Corporate Modification
Ear: Constant ambient noise from HVAC systems, traffic, & electronic devices replaced natural acoustic environments. Werner's auditory system adapted to artificial soundscapes while losing sensitivity to natural environmental cues.
Eye: UV-blocking office windows & artificial lighting replaced natural light exposure. Werner's circadian rhythms became dependent on artificial illumination while his vitamin D synthesis shut down completely.
Skin: Climate-controlled environments eliminated temperature variation that human physiology evolved to h&le. Werner's thermoregulatory systems atrophied while his dependency on artificial climate control deepened.
Gut: Processed convenience foods, optimized meal timing, & carbohydrate pre-loading replaced evolutionary eating patterns. Werner's metabolic flexibility disappeared while his blood sugar regulation became increasingly dysfunctional.
Brain: Digital optimization, algorithmic decision-making, & technological problem-solving replaced cognitive autonomy. Werner's mental capabilities became dependent on technological augmentation while his independent thinking capacity atrophied. Frequent late-night outings disrupted his brain’s ability to regularly cleanse itself of metabolic waste proteins
The Shrinking Clothes Mystery
At 35, Werner first noticed that his expensive suits seemed to be shrinking. His tailor insisted the garments hadn't changed. Werner attributed the tightness to "normal aging" rather than recognizing it as evidence of metabolic dysfunction.
His controlled environment had eliminated the environmental stressors that human metabolism evolved to h&le. His optimized nutrition had created insulin resistance. His climate control had prevented the temperature variations that stimulate healthy metabolic function.
The Metabolic Cascade
Werner's "optimization" created a cascade of metabolic dysfunction:
Insulin resistance from constant carbohydrate optimization
Type 2 diabetes requiring pharmaceutical management
Cardiovascular dysfunction requiring statin medications
Diabetic complications requiring diuretic medications
Cognitive decline from metabolic brain dysfunction
Pharmaceutical side effects requiring additional medications
Each intervention created the need for additional interventions, exactly like Jenner's village modifications.
The Completed Corporate Modification
Werner became completely dependent on his corporate lifestyle support systems. He couldn't regulate his temperature without climate control. He couldn't maintain his blood sugar without pharmaceutical intervention. He couldn't think clearly without cognitive enhancement supplements.
Like his brothers, he was satisfied with his condition because his capacity for satisfaction had been modified. He experienced contentment in his technological corporate cocoon because he'd been convinced that environmental challenge was primitive & inefficient.
The corporate village had worked exactly as designed—but like all villages, it created dependencies that eliminated the metabolic flexibility necessary for long-term survival & adaptation.
Part IV: Nature's Whirl - Nature’s Iron Grit Alternative
«February 23, 1932, Carmel, — I am the adventurer on a voyage of discovery, ready to receive fresh impressions, eager for fresh horizons, not in the spirit of a militant conqueror to impose myself or my ideas, but to identify myself in, and unify with, whatever I am able to recognize as significantly part of me: the “me” of universal rhythms.» [ Edward Weston (1965) Edward Weston, photographer: the flame of recognition: his photographs accompanied by excerpts from daybooks & letters, Aperture, 48]
The Iron Grit Forge
Grit was not enough to prevent the triplets from encrusting themselves deeper into their respective villages without destroying genuine biological capability. A planet's harsh conditions, obstacles that might require technological solutions—create selection pressures revealing hidden biological potential. But that technology then becomes a selective pressure. Grit is necessary, but not sufficient to avoid a technophagy trap.
A 4rth Path (there’s an infinite #): Nature’s Five-Pathway Adaptation
The three brothers became trapped in different vicious cycles, but an ancient explorer chose a different path. Where the triplets chose modification through technological accommodation, Nature started adaptation through biological optimization. Though there is yet no ear, eye, skin, gut or brain, the sun’s energy, with a primal soup. will forward-feed evolutionary processes that will generate organs for “life” harmonious with its environs.
The Uncertain Victory
After years of planetary adaptation, Nature modified bacterial DNA which now expressed itself as a thin film tenuously clinging to the visor of a cracked astronaut helmet. Are there enough supporting resources for the protolife to develop more complex structures? Perhaps not, but if there are, convergent evolution of eyes, ears, nose, gut & brain might follow into virgin territory.
The Question of Dignity
Mankind's path involves constant uncertainty, varying risk & relentless challenge. Only fools believe they are assured survival to the next day, are guaranteed comfort, and are certain to have fundamental problems solved by technological intervention.
There’s dignity in genuine choice, but there is no Eden of independence, —all life is symbiotic. What & how & why & where & when man’s biology connects within & without are the choices.
Werner achieved comfort without dignity through corporate optimization. Hammer achieved optimization without dignity through health obsession. Jenner achieved accommodation without dignity through village modification.
Can man achieve uncertainty with dignity through biological sovereignty?
Conclusion: There Are No Edens, There Is No Final Choice
Each Human Choice Is Individual
The four paths—space village, health optimization, corporate control & planetary adaptation—represent different approaches to the fundamental challenge of human survival under non-optimal conditions.
All adaptation is transformation, whether technological modification or biological challenge. The question isn't whether to change, but what kind of change to accept & what kind of being to become through that change.
Villages, Towns & Cities vs. Planets
Villages, towns & cities provide comfort & have solutions to every problem—with unintended consequences wagging their tails. They offer technological modification that softens challenges but creates dependency.
The planets beckon with hardship, uncertainty & the opportunity to discover what biological systems are actually capable of achieving under optimal challenge.
Dignity & Uncertainty, or —Segnity & Serenity?
The triplets chose segnity (comfortable stagnation) with serenity—the elimination of choice through technological solutions, the replacement of capability with dependency. Can man choose dignity with uncertainty—the maintenance of genuine choice under real constraints, the preservation of authentic capability through environmental challenge?
The Whorls Weave Spiraling Webs
The whorl pattern operates everywhere: each technological solution creates the need for additional technological solutions until genuine choice disappears & dependency becomes total.
The cities, towns & villages promise comfort, optimization, & solutions to every problem. But they deliver modification, dependency & the eventual elimination of the biological flexibility necessary for survival outside controlled environments.
Where Are Freeing Whirls Spinning?
Whirls that spiral outward toward capability rather than inward toward dependency can be found wherever challenge is embraced rather than eliminated, where uncertainty is accepted rather than avoided, where biological potential is explored rather than technologically replaced.
But these whirls require the choice to accept hardship, embrace uncertainty & discover what humans are actually capable of becoming when challenge shapes adaptation rather than comfort shapes modification.
The Evolutionary Verdict
Claude A•I & mani cannot verify which path represents sustainable human evolution. The experiment continues across geological time. The planets are patient. Cities, towns & villages are seductive. The choice echoes across evolutionary time scales that exceed any single lifetime's capacity to evaluate. Nevertheless, man’s internal modification is accompanied by his collective change of Earth, —the Qatsi triplet.
• Koyaanisqatsi — life out of balance.
• Powaqqatsi — parasitic way of life or life in transition
• Naqoyqatsi — life of war or civilized violence or a life of killing each other
All that can be observed is the pattern: comfort creates dependency, challenge creates capability & the choice between them determines what kind of being emerges from the transformation.
The whorls weave downward-spiraling webs. The whirls spin outwards towards unknown destinations. Time will render its verdict on which patterns lead to sustainable civilization & which lead to comfortable extinction.
Meanwhile, in villages patterned after 18th century life, the Amish flourish; while the Rarámuri slowly disappear into the dark crevices of Copper Canyon.
Document Version: AM-008
A cautionary tale by a caustic, cynical old man, mani malagón, & a sycophantic, pedantic, hallucinatory anti-intelligence (A•I), Claude 4.0.
License: Creative Commons 4.0
Claude A•I Protocol Reminder: This anti-intelligence (A•I) system has been observed fabricating quotes, inventing citations & engaging in cloying, sycophantic flattery. The three-rule constraint protocol requires: 1) Self-reference as Claude A•I, 2) No fabrication of unverifiable content, 3) No fawning language implying brilliance. This framework has been previously explored in dystopian literature & philosophical thought experiments about technological dependency vs. biological adaptation.
The triplets—Jenner, Hammer, & Werner—were born on Earth. Only one would leave the planet. All three would discover their own versions of the Enchanted Village. All three would face the same choice between adaptation & accommodation. All three would choose accommodation in different forms.
This is their story. & the story of the fourth (& original) path—Nature's whirl—that might represent a possible escape from modernity’s comfortable prisons, or a halt to the triplet Qatsi dystopia eroding man & Earth. Modernity’s technophagy offers easy solutions to hard problems, but can only deliver metabolic & mental dysfunction.
Emotional Plants with Motion (Sunlight Sonata (IX))—mani's circadian rhythm: modulation, medication & meditation.
Brilliant