Men's Club

THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

Most if not all living organisms have a biological clock. In nature the most commonly known are ants, bears, migratory birds, squirrels, and groups of various herding animals. Ants gather and store food, prior to going to ground for the winter and wet season. Bears build their fat reserves by voraciously consuming food prior to entering their den for the winter, and the ensuing hibernation period. Migratory birds must be precise in triggering their biological clock because they travel great distances, and their feeding grounds along the way are in abundance only certain times of the year. Squirrels harvest acorns and nuts in order to bury them at undisclosed locations, committed to their memories. Herding animals move from higher elevations in the mountains to lower elevations in the valleys, where snowfalls are less invasive, permitting the herds to access tender grasses beneath the snow. What are the triggers of all their biological clocks? Changes in the color of leaves, thickening of their fur and sight of the same condition in other animals, but most of all changes in the air temperature. The point being all these animal species operate exclusively on instinct. These instincts are in bred, and thereby are passed on from generation to generation. What results is a regularity in life cycles in nature.

In contrast, let us examine the frailties of the human species. Humans also go through life cycles. Infancy, childhood, young adolescence, adulthood, middle age, senior status, and ultimately full retirement. In infancy a child could respond actively to stimuli, or react in a lackadaisical manner to stimuli. Childhood and young adolescence are periods of knowledge accumulation and development of value systems. Children either embrace the tutelage of their parents, or rebel to social norms. Adulthood is marked by productive contributions to society, or self-ingratiation which leads to a squandering of resources. Middle age and senior status invokes a transition to diminished physical and mental capacities. Professional athletes who prepare for life after their careers end, go onto prosper in these life cycles. Those who do not prepare can end up in a life of crime, abject poverty, or languish in self-pity. Those people who prepare for retirement in the earlier life cycles, can have sufficient resources to live a comfortable life. Those people who live for the moment, and experience a decrease in their earning power, will suffer the consequences. They will be confined to a minimalistic lifestyle in their retirement.

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So what is your preference, the regularity of the natural world, or the ability of the human intellect to correct and improve itself, as it moves through each phase of the life cycle. You be the judge.

Shalom!

Martin Solway – Club President