The Ultimate Electric Machine

A basic phone is no longer good
enough for us. It has to have 4K video
and GPS, at least. And we’ll ditch
this year’s miracle phone like yesterday’s
half-eaten sandwich at the next
chance to upgrade. From the coffee
maker in our kitchen to the smartphone
in our pocket, we love our electric
machines. And the upgrades just
keep getting better.

But one machine—the most amazing
electric machine of all—hasn’t
been upgraded since humans first
harnessed electric power. And it’s still
better than the latest gadgets. When
God created Adam from the dust of the
ground, He created him as an electric
machine that surpasses any technology
we could ever invent.

Scientists constantly marvel at new
discoveries about the intricacies of our
body’s nervous system, and they’re
even finding that its similarities to
man-made machines allow us to create
electric body parts that interact with
the brain.

Electric Senses

We all know about the brain’s ability
to keep our body under control and
process what’s going on around us.
Modern machines sometimes mimic
this ability, but unlike machines, our
nervous system constantly rewires
itself to adapt to changing circumstances.
(Actually, our nervous system
is so indescribably complex that the
simple word wiring isn’t even close.)
Fernanda Zanetti is a radical example
of this “rewiring.” She was born with no arms and uses her feet like hands.
She even types with her toes.

Most of us would make a complete
mess of any document—and probably
the keyboard, too—if we tried toe typing.
That’s because our brain doesn’t
devote the same number of neurons
to control our feet that it does for our
hands. But through constant use,
Fernanda’s brain has shifted its circuitry
to use the feet as well as it would
have used the nonexistent hands.

In the same way, your brain works
with you as you devote extra effort to
typing fast, playing a musical instrument,
performing gymnastics, reading,
and so on. Your brain changes, actually
creating new electrical pathways as
you practice new skills.

Electric Limbs

Your body parts are designed to
react to electrical impulses. Your muscles,
for example, contract in response
to electrical impulses from the brain.
They’re not passive, either. When you
type, for example, your finger muscles
amplify those signals with their own
internal power and contract to press
the appropriate keys. At the same
time, sensory nerves in your fingertips
send electrical signals back to
the brain, informing it about the keys’
texture and temperature, how much
pressure has been applied, and so on.
They communicate back and forth, by
the Creator’s design.

Even if you cut off your arm, the
electrical wiring and control circuits
remain at the point of separation.
That’s why an amputee might still
feel an itch in his missing hand. That
may sound annoying, but prosthetics
experts are learning how to adapt
these electrical circuits to control
prosthetic limbs.

At first, brain-controlled prosthetics
were very clunky and could perform
only the most routine tasks like
opening and closing a hand. But recent
advances have made it possible for
the patient to feel pressure with prosthetic
fingers and perform delicate
operations like drinking from a fragile
paper cup.

Over time the brain learns to interpret
signals coming from a hunk of
titanium, plastic, and rubber as if they
were coming from a natural, fleshy
arm. Soon, researchers expect to be
able to transmit sensations of subtle
textures through those same electrical
pathways.

The Master Engineer

No matter how good we get at
making new gadgets, they’ll never
be anything like our body.

No matter how good we get at making
new gadgets, they’ll never be anything
like our body; it’s much more
than just a machine. But thankfully,
it’s similar enough to our gadgets that
we can meld metal and plastic to the
body to help people.

The more we discover about this
intricate electric “machine,” the more
we wonder at God’s ingenuity and
unimaginable skill. He’s much more
than a machinist. He gives us life
and vision and emotion and thought,
all working together to glorify Him.
And as we unravel just a portion of
our body’s mysteries, we even get to
work with God’s design to help others
suffering from the physical effects of
the Fall.

Melissa Webb earned a degree in communication print
journalism from Liberty University and spent four years
working as news writer for Liberty’s News and Media
Relations Office. She has also edited for Answers magazine.