Engineering: Test for Completeness and Goals

Test for Completeness and Goals

Contonx: Mind-It Training Log

Contonix Mind-It Training Log

Bicycle: The MS Bike

Joseph’s MS Bike

Joseph’s MS Bike explains Multiple Sclerosis.

While at a yard sale, laying on the lawn was a dirty old steel bike for $10.  Something about it attracted my attention. The rusted chain hung off the crank gears. The shredded cabling rubber dangled out of the shifter.  The bent wheels would never roll.  The seat rotted away a long time ago, leaving only the metal frame. The logos and markings were long gone. For an offer of $5, I took it home and stashed it in the corner of the garage, and I forgot about it. As an ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, I give talks about MS and my life with MS. One morning, a dream memory remained. In the memory vision was that yard sale bike but rebuilt, bright with new colors that explained MS.  For ambassador talks, I am always looking for a better way to communicate MS topics and issues.

In a dream vision, I could see a new design perfectly. On the top, down and seat tubes are the words Live, Ride, Believe. The neuron painted on the head tube and forks represents the dark mystery of MS hiding its cause and cure. The lighter spots on the tubes show where MS attacks the myelin on the axons leaving its scars (sclerosis). The orange is for all MS heroes who help MSers and support efforts to find a cure. The white is the belief that MS will be cured. On the chain stay tubes are the words “Stop MS”

As we all know, seeing something in a dream and making it come true are two quite different stories. The yard sale bike was a steel frame fitted with 27-inch wheels, 10-speed gears, and downtube lever gear shifters. The off the drop handlebar hung what were once the brake levers. The bike vintage was in the early 1970s. In the dream, the new components replaced the original components. The frame and the fork remained 

The MS Bike took weeks to build. All the components had to be acquired.  After sandblasting the paint and rust off the frame, a new powder-coated paint made the frame look new just off an assembly line. Wheels and gears, cables, brakes and shifters, handlebars and a seat, and MS Bike was ready to ride.

The dream became true. The Multiple Sclerosis bike story begins at the head tube where the neuron and axon image shows the dark mystery of MS,  The yellow spots on the neurons are the scars from the MS lesion. The orange is for all the people who have MS, the support partners, and all the people helping to solve the MS mystery.  The white is the belief MS will be cured.

On the top tube is the word "Live", the down tube says "Ride" and the seat tube is "Believe". "We live with MS, ride through MS's challenges, and believe there will be a cure."

The MS Bike is Ready

Parade Ready 

Multiple Sclerosis: MS From the Inside-Out ~ Evolution

MS From the Inside-Out ~ Evolution

In 1989, at 40 years old, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Then in 1993 was the lottery for the first MS disease-modifying treatment drug, Betaseron. By 1996, disability forced the end of my professional career. For the next few years, I continued to follow the traditional MS clinical explanations and recommendations. In 2008, MS started gaining too much power over me. I needed a new approach; I wanted to change myself and change my MS.

After years of physical therapy, treatment at different offices was the same, I found therapists did not know about neurological therapy and treatment for multiple sclerosis clients.  Unsatisfied with physical therapy, l decided to hire personal trainers so the trainer would work for me and not for a medical office.  I had years of physical therapy, I knew my MS, and I decided I needed help with training, not with physical therapy. At first, the idea seemed attainable, but I soon found for treatment I needed both physical therapy and personal training. However, in a little over a year of personal training, I went from occasionally walking with two canes, weighting 300 lbs to riding my fist Colorado Bike MS 150.

When I started training,  I could not find a personal training program that focused on MS.  Before my first personal training session, I knew I would need some techniques to use as the models for the program. Within a few sessions, the idea for the model revealed itself, "rebuild the connections that MS took from me." That idea of rebuilding connections grew into a program I named " Connection Toning." During the early training years, I training by intuition, following the mantra "tell the brain what going to be trained, train the brain, tell the brain what was trained."  Meanwhile, I still had the neurologist visits, the pills, and the disease-modifying treatment injections. And eventually, physical therapy, psychological therapy, occupational therapy, neuropsychology evaluations, nutrition counseling, support groups, and home exercise programs all again became part of my MS life. The mantra evolved, and then, resolved to be "remodel the connections."

MS is only part of an MSer's life. My wife of 20 years is not an MSer, but she lives with my MS too. Our daughter, now living on her own, used to go to MS meetings and sit with coloring books. For every MSer, MS affects at least four or more other people. The clinical replase-remitting disease explanation of MS  does not explain the MSer living with MS, and the impact on others. Species evolution describes the phenomenon of species changes over time. The phenomenon of an MS attack is similar but the change occurs in lifespan. Every MS relapse-remitting cycle causes a persistent lifestyle evolution change. The change affects the MSer and support partners. 

Initial drawings of "Multiple Sclerosis Trauma Evolution" began in 2008 while trying to understand how remodel training fits with the clinical models of MS symptoms.  As the person who experiences MS symptoms, my perspective was from the inside-out view. And the clinical perspective is from the outside-in view. Since both views are for the same symptoms, the same perspective should allow for both views.  The clinical model used the terms relapse-remitting to describe the cycles of symptoms where remitting is the time between attacks. 

The neurologist's outside-in MS explanations describe the three types of MS progression.  As an MS person, MS affects me from the inside-out. The clinical MS progressing types are variations of release-remitting cycles. My MS life with MS knew that between the relapses, something else happens. I experience MS as a series of events. A relapse event triggers treatment for a remission event. After remission is a pause until the next relapse. During the pause, I trained to adapt to the damage caused by the relapse. I realized the pause is another event, and the pauses' training's purpose was to remodel the damage, not just to adapt. The inside-out view is three events, relapse, remission and remodel.

As part of my sessions with the trainers, the term adapting did not reflect the essential purpose of what I needed from training, which is to identify and rewire the MS damage. The name remodel, as a term, describes the three challenges,  identity the trauma, impact assessment, and remedy.  Remodel is a process that begins with identifying the lesion damage, determine the lifestyle impact, and work to remedy a lifestyle.  (Over time I developed my technique for remodeling; provoked fatigue to identify the damage, therapy experts for impact assessments, and training methods for remedy, I hope others can develop better techniques.) 

In other posts, I describe my methods for remodeling. This post explains how both the outside-in and the inside-out description of MS trauma is relapse-remission-remodel. I retired as an Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. When I attended meetings with other MSers, many people told me their MS story. We know the statement, "No two people with MS have the same MS symptoms." Truthfully, those words is the same for most things, "No two people live the same life." "Everybody is different. "Everything in nature is different." In life, the human mind creates models of similarity that makes things appear the same. For training, I needed a better way to explain that remodeling is life long and not just an event between relapses. Another statement we hear about MS is, "No two relapses are the same." The Multiple Sclerosis Trauma Evolution drawing illustrates the relapse-remission-remodel definition; it does not illustrate the lesion's trauma. The drawing recognizes MS's trauma life consequences where disability increases and the ability to thrive decreases.

The human voice produces sound waves where no two utterances are the same. Yet, we can hear and recognize the words. The ocean waves rise and fall where each wake-wave are not the same. Yet, we can see and hear the pattern. The term 'eccentric' means instances in a unique pattern, it also means groups of instances in an observable framework. Each sound wave is an eccentric pattern, yet the accumulation of patterns permits recognitions. MS's trauma leaves disability markers as MS evolves with the repeated eccentric occurrences of relapse-remission-remodel. This is MS from the inside-out. 

The drawing shows relapse-remission-remodel as definable events. MS has two dimensions of disease activity.  On-the-surface is the measurable recognition of lesion damage. Below-the-surface is a disease activity that is not clinically diagnosed.  Remodel is effective for both dimensions of disease activity. Brain health is a major tenet of remodeling. My favorite expression in Connection Toning is "Healthy Lungs, Healthy Brain."  The brain requires 20 percent of the air supply. If the MS activity is above or below the surface,  brain health defuses trauma impact and enables remodeling. 

Inside-Out and Outside-In Views

Everybody responds to disability as their own to manage. The clinical model of MS uses the term loss of the quality-of-life to describe the effects caused by increases in disability.  When I asked myself, what does MS steal from me, the list was long. Unsatisfied with the list, I recalled the doctor's diagnosis of my father's death. On the certificate, the doctor wrote the words "Failure to thrive." Looking at my list again, I realized failure to thrive also meant able to thrive. While quality-of-life is a true statement, it is incomplete. My inside-out perspective accuses MS of stealing my ability-to-thrive.

MS not only stole some of my quality-of-life; MS stole some of my quantity of life. Ability-to-thrive means quality-of-life and quantity-of-life. The ability-to-thrive reveals an intrinsic survival power model for will-to-thrive. Remodeling and will-to-thrive have a direct relationship. Each provides a self-supporting resource for the other, and grit is the result. Grit is the will-to-thrive remedy that dampens the long-term eccentric effects of MS trauma. Grit is the seed that feeds remodel.

From storm to calm, From relapse to remission, From remission to remodel, From wave to wake, From day to night, From earth to the moon, From birth to death, From neither the same, From alive to thrive, From change we know, From remodel to thrive, From storm to calm.

Contonx: Everyday Connections

Everyday Connections

Connection toning training begins with learning to be aware of the body's connections to produce activity for movement.

Suppose you are in a room sitting in a chair, and you look out a door and see a bright day inviting you outdoors. You stand up, walk across the room to the door, and all of sudden the wind slams the door shut. 

The normal body movement requires three movement elements for action.  

• Begin with physical prowess to stand. 

• Neurological coordination to walk 

• Cognitive planning orchestrates navigation to the door. 

• Startle reflex combines the movements into a simultaneous action. The door slamming causes a startle reflex that slams the thee elements into a near-simultaneous event.

Connections in MS

In MS, the immune system attacks the insulating tissue myelin around the axons causing 3 possible electrical conditions.

•  A circuit open happens when the axon is cut causing axon loss

•  Resistance increases due to insulation loss 

•  Shorts, crosstalk, happen due to the demyelinated axons touching. 

All three exhibit fatigue conditions sometimes called nerve fiber fatigue.

In a way, the MS fatigue experience is like fainting, but unlike a faint where the person fainting has no conscious awareness, the MS fatigue attack is more like watching from being stuck in a bowl of clear gelatin unable to move.

In my youth, I had mononucleosis. While mono has several symptoms, the main symptom I remember is the extreme fatigue. I was so weak my mother had to spoon-feed me.  In my adult life, I can recall 4 times when the MS fatigue reminded me of being in bed with mono.  The other symptom I remember learning to walk again because my legs had no strength. Some say mono and MS may be related biologically. But, I do know fatigue symptoms are comparable.

Remodel Connections

All body positions require tone.  Muscles, nerves, bones, blood, and mind work together to maintain tone. The most restful posture requires tone. Movement requires millions of changes in tone. Each change requires connections to transfer from tone to tone. The connection itself is a tone.

Trauma disrupts connection tones. Connection tone training is a process for remodeling the damage in body systems to rebuild or remake or construct new connection tones. 

                

Psyc: What not is apathy is grit

What not is apathy is grit.

To understand something ask two questions:

   What not is ....   -- find the opposite

   What is not ...    -- describe something

The brain and the mind always exist together as a mood. Neither the brain nor the mind can coexist without being in a mood. The term mood has multiple meanings. The brain/mind can change moods hundreds of times a second. A mood state is a repeated occurrence of a mood that can be observed as a behavioral trait.

Keep Your Grit

The drawing Keep Your Grit began with the question "What not is apathy?" and discovered grit as the opposite. The change from an apathy state to a grit state means overcoming multiple blocking challenges. Once at a grit state, the same blocking challenges reduce the risk of returning to an apathy state. 

In drawing are eight belief mood states and each mood has an opposite mood. Each mood has two adjacent moods. 

The two risk-reward circles show the two mood change paths for will-to-thrive in one direction and the other direction loss of will-to-thrive. Each path is a continuous experience. Confidence can become doubt and doubt can become confident. Determination can become avoidance and avoidance can become determination. Doubt is the opposite of determination. Confidence is the opposite of avoidance. Doubt and avoidance are risk pathways leading to apathy. Confidence and determination are reward pathways leading to grit. 

At the center is belief. The name could be willpower, love, conviction, view, idea. belief or any tenet of self one holds true to be the source for the will-to-thrive.

Grit Wellness Moods

The Grit Wellness Moods drawing unfolds the eight belief moods to model transition moods between two beliefs moods.  Each belief mood has four transition moods. The drawing illustrates the relationships between the eight belief moods, the sixteen transition moods and the four pathway moods. 

A possible application of the model is an explanation of a person trapped by anxiety is to remodel the risk triggers into constructive rewards passions or to replace anxiety triggers with order tactics to gain certainty.

The drawing shows the moods as synchronous. In practice, mood experience is asynchronous and can be in any mood state. However, with experience, the moods will focus leading to a goal.

The reward statement "What is not apathy is grit." also has the risk statement "What is not grit is apathy." 

The two drawings are models for identifying moods and explaining mood change. The name I used for the moods are labels that I understood to best define transition states. 

Something to think about.

If every mood has a transition mood, what is the transition mood of the transition mood? The drawing shows 4 levels of transition moods. Each level is a transition mood. The three additional levels remain undefined for the Keep Your Grit model. The interesting question is what is W, X, Y, Z. 

Veteran: Comment on the Wolfe vs VA case

Comment on the Wolfe versus VA case

Wolfe & Boerschinger v. Wilkie, No.18-6091(DATED: September 9, 2019 PER CURIAM); 38 C.F.R. § 17.1005(a)(5) is invalid because it is contrary to 38 U.S.C. §1725; reimbursement of emergency medical care at non-VA facilities

References below.

The Court's opinion and the process leave me with big questions and that the VA can be ordered in a direction that will fix the problem.

The Court and NVLSP have the entire basis for the case wrong. The estimated cost does appear more sensational than factual. Unless the basis changes the DVA will not change its business rules. 

The Law says:

Statute 38 USC 1725 (c) (4) (D) states “The Secretary may not reimburse a veteran under this section for any copayment or similar payment that the veteran owes the third party or for which the veteran is responsible under a health-plan contract."

The statute means:  When the veteran’s insurance company pays a provider the insurance’s share of copayment, the VA will not pay back a veteran for the money insurance paid to a provider. That is all it means, that is all it can mean. The wording is exact. 

Without the statue, the veteran can claim the money from insurance belongs to veteran and invoice for reimbursement.   The statute prohibits double-dipping where insurance and the VA pay for the same medical expense. The VA does not have a regulation to prevent double-dipping.

The VA created CFR 17.1005 (5) "VA will not reimburse a veteran under this section for any copayment, deductible, coinsurance, or similar payment that the veteran owes the third party or is obligated to pay under a health-plan contract.”

The statute is correct, the regulation is fictitious.  The VA abuses the term reimbursement to include payment to the provider. 

Furthermore, the VA inappropriately uses the regulation to demand an explanation of benefits confidential business information from the patient and the provider. The Law defines third party to be the insurance company (patient, provider, insurer).  The VA switched the third party to mean (VA, veteran, provider).

The correct wording for CFR 17.1005 (5) is “The VA will not reimburse the veteran for a copay or coinsurance money paid under a health plan contractor.” ( A health plan contract can payout to either the medical services provider or to the insured.)  Or better: CFR 17.1005 (5) should be “The VA will not reimburse the veteran for an episode of care payments made to the provider or the veteran for episode’s medical expenses. “

Unless the regulation is like the above, the veteran can double-dip on payments made to the provider by asking to be reimbursed for payments made directly to the provider. In the case of medical insurance copayments, the title for the money belongs to the veteran patient. Medical insurance payment is exactly the same as if the veteran patient wrote at check to the provider.

Copay and coinsurance are terms specific to pay for a medical expense where the insurer pays some and the insured pays some. The definition of a medical expense is a fee for a medical service. 

The VA has no legal right to demand an episode of care explanation of benefits from the provider, the insurance company, or the patient. The patient, insurance, and provider have a private contract. By demanding the EOB and refusing to pay benefit is bureaucratic extortion. The Law requires the provider to reconcile all payout before invoicing the VA. That is all the information the VA needs.

The VA’s limit on medical expense payout is the maximum allowable amount (MAA) which is the same as the Medicare fee. Once the MAA is paid by any party, the Law exhausts further charges for the medical expense. I suspect the large cost estimate is calculated for the unpaid insurance payout rather than the MAA. 

If the VA suspects the provider being dishonest about reconciling payouts, the provider commits fraud in which case the problem belongs to legal and not a reason to deny veteran’s benefits.

The Court and the DVA treat reimbursement as a gratuitous act and not a formal business process. 38 USC 1725 instructs the VA to either pay the provider or reimburse the veteran. This statute defines the existence of 3 contracts and to make a payment the contracts require an invoice and a payment. Contracts: 

• Veteran & VA, 
• VA and Provider, 
• Veteran & Provider. 

Elsewhere in 1725, 2 other contracts exist. 

• Provider and The Veteran Patient, 
• Veteran Patient (insured) & The Patient Medical Insurance company (insurer)
• Note: no contract exists between the VA and the insurance company. A reimbursement requires an invoice before payment.  Unless the veteran files a Form 10-7078 (or equal)   invoice, the VA cannot make rules that bypass the Form.

Statute 38 USC 1725 (c) (4) (D) states “The Secretary may not reimburse …” Without a reimbursement invoice, the rest of the statue is void.  The VA regulation completely ignores the Law's reimbursement requirement.

Contract law and privacy law supersede Title 38.

To help understand Title 38, these are some of the first principles:

• Title 38 is Congress’s life grant of benefits to all veterans for the veteran’s national service.
• The Department of Veteran Affairs is Congress’s agent to pay veteran’s benefit expenses from the Federal Budget.
• Title 38 defines the veteran’s benefits and the business rules the DVA uses for operation and payout.
• A veteran’s benefit is a fee for a Title 38 service.
• By Congress’s grant, the veteran owns the benefit, the DHA has the responsibility to provide services and payout from the Budget.
• The DVA is not a veteran. The DVA is an agent of Congress, and cannot own benefits.
• The veteran owns all benefits.
• To receive Federal Budget benefits, the veteran must register with the DVA.
• The DVA likes to market itself as a benefits organization. While pleasant-sounding, the words misspeak its authority and responsibility.
•  Section 38 USC 1725 The Law instructs the Secretary to either pay-the-provider or reimburse-the-veteran.
• Pay-the-provider and reimburse-the-veteran is a formal business process of invoice and payment.
• Contract law and privacy law are the frameworks of business rules.

If NVLSP represented me with the Court of Veteran's Appeals, this is a list of conduct I would not expect the attorney to allow. 

• NVLSP allowed the VA to use the terms copayment, coinsurance, and deductibles in defense arguments.  These terms copay and coinsurance mean two payers, the insurer copay and the insured copay.  The VA created a regulation for the insured copay; however, the Law applies only to insurer copay.   The term deductible is not in 38 USC 1725.   If the DVA does follow the Court, the veteran can double-dip on other payments made directly to the provider. It is simple, the medical insurance payout is the property of the insured. When insurance pays a provider, the insurer acts as a broker for the insured to pay the bill for the insured.
• NVLSP allowed the VA to use the explanation of benefits (EOB) information to deny the veteran benefits. In a community provider episode of care, the EOB is private information, and the VA has no legal right or authority to demand.
• NVLSP allowed the VA to claim itself as the first party in separate contracts. The Law defines the veteran as the first party.
• NVLSP allowed the VA to substitute medical expense (fees for a medical service)  for insurance expense (cost of insurance)
• NVLP allowed the VA to limit the meaning of copay and coinsurance to mean the patient's share rather than the insurer's share.
• The CAVA, NVLSP,  and the VA tend to use the term reimbursement as a gratuitous act and not as a formal business process.

References:

United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Docket Case Number:18-6091

Case NO. 18-6091 AMANDA JANE WOLFE AND PETER E. BOERSCHINGER, PETITIONERS, 

Contonx: Contonix Exertion Scales

The Contonix Exertion Scales is a self-assessment grading method on the effectiveness of Mind-It Training (MIT) exercises. Tone is an active event that occurs when forces act together to maintain balance. If a person extends an arm and holds is stead, all biological systems act together to hold tone. As soon as the moves, the biological systems continue to act together to sustain continue change in tone. The means to change from one tone state to another is connection toning.

Multiple Sclerosis: The cause of my MS.

Could something from 1971 point to reason I have multiple sclerosis?

When I was a teenager, my father earned extra money by doing did odd jobs for realtors like constructions, painting, cleanup. From the time I was 8 and until I was 18 and enlisted in the Marine Corps, I would go to many jobs with him. I think he had is own right of passage rules, because starting high school, he assigned me the high jobs like roof repair. I had no fear of heights. My enlisted ended in 1971, I  was 21 and often I would help him.  From an incident 50 years ago, my mind is still clear about what happened on a 1971 summer day.

Dad asked me to carry a bundle of shingles up to the roof where others worked. Putting the shingles on my shoulder, up the ladder, and walking across the roof, I put the shingles down for the roofers. I turned around to start down the roof, my legs froze. I could not move. Dad was calling me to come down for another bundle. I could barely hear him. He must have sensed something was wrong. He called out to one of the roofers to check on me. I am still standing frozen. The roofer looked at me, waved for my Dad to come up. The other roofer came oven and the three of them helped me to sit on the roof.  Dad told the roofers to help him get me down. They sat me on the roof. By pushing and tugging they slid me down to the ladder and help me turn over. One on the ladder, Dad is talking me down and help put my feet on the rungs while the roofers held my hands,  At halfway down, I could hold onto the ladder legs. And a few more rungs I was down.  Sill a little wobbly, Dad help me to lean on the pick-up.

A few minutes passed I was fine and could do other work. The building only was just a one-story house. During those few minutes, I was frozen with fear. Before the incidence, I had no fear of heights nor standing on the edge. The crew and I  had a good laugh about being me being afraid of work.  I never worked on a roof again. Forty-five years later, the exact same thing happened. I was at the gym, exercising on a spin bike. I felt fine, not physically exhausted. But, when I stood up, my legs froze, they would not move, I could not tell them to move. Standing there for a few minutes, the stiffness passed.  The legs became wobbly, and I was able to move to the next machine.

For 45years, the incidence on the roof caused self embarrassment. I did not understand. I always felt I let my Dad down. I showed weakness on the job but also the image of a Marine being afraid of a little old roof. I knew I was not a coward, I just did not understand what actually happened. Twenty years after the roof incident, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When the incident happened in the gym, I knew exactly what happened. Both the roof and the gym incidences was an MS exacerbation. In my life with MS, I spend a lot of time studying MS from the inside-out. systems perspective, not from the biological science perspective. The incident in the gym was a breakthrough event in my studies about MS and fatigue. For movement, we need three resources. The physical prowess to move. The neurological coordination of body systems. And, the cognitive capability to plan movement with the ability to send coordination orders for the plan.

The incident on the roof and in the gym was MS neurological fatigue. Both incidents had exactly the same pattern, frozen legs.  fear of being a lost and defenseless, and rest relaxing the frozen legs. If my analysis is true, then in the twenty years, before the MS diagnosis, from the time I was 21 until 40,  I experience undiagnosed  MS symptoms.  In 1976, I was a field engineering for a medical instruments company and my service territory was the central western states and the land area was a third of the United States.  The work involved fixing equipment in hospital labs and at university reseach labs. Travel to the cities meant flying. In a week's time could be one to four flights a day. In and out of Denver, to Salt Lake, to Phoenix to Albuquerque and back to Denver was an easy week.  Once I was so fatigued, I had to spend several days in a Salt Lake hotel room just resting.  I remember tossing the keys to the valet, bearly being able to walk to the front desk. I had to sit in the lobby and rest before going to my room. I thought I had the flu, but now I know the symptoms were from an MS attack.  When I returned to Denver, the family doctor gave me some vitamin shots along with bed rest. I was 25. A few months later the fatigue happened on the last flight home to Denver.  Will power got me to the parking lot and my car. For two days only I walked between the bedroom and the bathroom.  One the third day, I went to the family doctor again. More vitamin shots and rest.  At 26 I was burned out and 4 days later I quit that job.

The story just sounds like being overworked. The fatigue was MS.   At the time,  the fatigue appeared as job stress. The one thing I recall was not walking well and the legs being wobbly. Years later, I learned that wobbly walking is a symptom of MS. 

Could something have happened to me between 18 and 21 that caused MS? I am the only MSer in generations of past and present family members. I have an idea about what happened to me that is exclusive of others. I am still working on the idea.

Once I identified the fatigue pattern, I could recall other fatigue events before and after diagnosis with the same pattern. I named the pattern the -n event for the no-neurological coordination. Each fatigue event is different,  only a few are  -n severe disabling events. 

Psyc: Fear Threat Reactions

Fear Threat Reactions

When faced with a perceived threat, humans and animals exhibit a range of fear-threat reactions. These reactions are physiological and behavioral responses that help individuals cope with the perceived danger and protect themselves from harm. The most well-known fear threat reactions are the "fight-or-flight" responses, but there are other adaptations that organisms may employ in the face of fear.

Fight-or-flight response

The fight-or-flight response is a common physiological and behavioral reaction to perceived threats. This response is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers a cascade of physiological changes that prepare the body for action. These changes include:

• Increased heart rate and blood pressure: This provides the body with the necessary oxygen and nutrients to fight or flee.

• Muscle tension: This allows for rapid movement and defense.

• Dilated pupils: This enhances vision in low-light conditions, which may be necessary for escape or defense.

• Release of hormones: Hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol prepare the body for action and increase alertness.

The fight-or-flight response is characterized by two primary behavioral options:

• Fight: This involves confronting the threat directly, either verbally or physically.

• Flight: This involves fleeing from the threat to a safe location.

The choice of whether to fight or flight depends on various factors, such as the perceived severity of the threat, the individual's assessment of their own capabilities, and the availability of escape routes.

Reaction	Description
Fawn	Hide - make oneself invisible, the threat still exists.
Fight	Attack - self-defense by disarming the threat
Flight	Run - move away as fast as possible.
Freeze	Stop - cannot move, moving an make the threat worse
Finesse	Wade - Facing the threat and preserve anyhow.
Forget	Ignore - The cause for fear is not a threat.
Fold	Surrender - Give up, accept the fact the threat is beyond one's control.
Fade	Backup - Disassociated from the threat.

Neurological Reactions

The neurological reactions, also known as the "four Fs," involve specific neurological pathways and activations. These reactions are:

1. Fawn: The fawn response is associated with the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and conservation of energy. This response is mediated by the release of neurotransmitters such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and acetylcholine.

2. Fight: The fight response is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers a surge of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones prepare the body for physical action by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

3. Flight: The flight response, like the fight response, is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Adrenaline and cortisol play a key role in this response, preparing the body for rapid movement and escape.

4. Freeze: The freeze response is associated with the activation of the dorsal vagal complex, a part of the nervous system that regulates freeze behavior. This response is mediated by the release of neuropeptides such as opioid peptides, which promote stillness and reduce pain perception.

Neurocognitive Reactions

The neurocognitive reactions, also known as the "four Fs," involve cognitive processes and emotional regulation mechanisms. These reactions are:

1. Fade: The fade response involves suppressing or diminishing the emotional intensity of the fear response. This is achieved through cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing the way one interprets the threatening situation.

2. Fold: The fold response involves avoiding or withdrawing from the perceived threat. This may involve physical avoidance or mental disengagement from the situation.

3. Forget: The forget response involves suppressing or erasing memories of the fear-inducing event. This is thought to be mediated by the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory formation and consolidation.

4. Finesse: The finesse response involves managing or controlling the expression of fear, often through coping strategies such as deep breathing or relaxation techniques. This response is mediated by the prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in executive function and decision-making.

Phases of a Fear Threat Reaction

The four shock phases of a fear threat reaction are:

1. Trigger: This is the initial phase, where the individual perceives a threat and the fear response is activated.

2. Action: This is the phase where the individual reacts to the threat through either neurological or neurocognitive reactions.

3. Recovery: This is the aware phase, where the individual's physiological and emotional state returns to baseline.

4. Reaction: This is the safety phase, where the individual makes cognitive plans to change risks associated with the trigger.

The body's means to execute these reactions involve a complex interplay of hormonal, neurotransmitter, and cognitive processes. These mechanisms allow individuals to cope with perceived threats and protect themselves from harm.

While the threat reaction has a physical-behavioral transition response, the transition seems seamless in life practice.

Contonx: Four Square Fitness

Four Square Fitness

 

S.A.F.E Conditioning

              S - Strength
              A - Agility
              F - Flexibility
              E - Endurance

In the Art of Contonx, strength, agility, flexibility, and endurance are the finite elements of tone. Everything in the body's anatomy elements moves, cells, organs, fluids, nerves, bones, muscles, etc. A SAFE condition defines the relationship between the elements.

Pysc: Did Adam Have a Bellybutton?

Did Adam Have a Bellybutton?

“Did Adam have a belly button?”, the Question is a philosophical question related to a bible story. The Question proposes a polar answer of either a yes or a no. The Question itself makes the suppositions that the character Adam exists, that something exists called a belly-button and that Adam may have the procession of the belly-button. 

The Question defines the affirmative to be "Adam has a belly-button", then negative to be "Adam did not have a belly-button.  A "no response" cannot be either yes or no,  but yes response means a proof argument. The negative response is an absence of proof, the response is a negative answer.

The Question suggests the scope of understanding is context similar to both the proposer and the proposed.  Although the answers may include valid responses where the proposer and the proposed to have different or distinct context.

If the proposer and the proposed have a mutual context with similar exposure to bible stories,  the Question's proposition is a philosophical interrogation related to creation and God. Four options provide the bases for opinions.

1. Creationist -- No. God created Adam, therefore no need for a bellybutton.
2. Evolutionist -- Yes. Homo sapiens evolved as a biological natural occurrence.
3. Interventionist -- Yes. Some eternal force triggered evolutionary species to gain abstract rational thought. The bible story suggests God choose the homo sapien Adam to have free will. Perhaps some other unknown source of external force triggered or deposited a person with advanced brain capability.
4. Exclusionist - No. Knows about the story but discards it and considers the story fiction.

However, if the proposer and the proposed have no mutual context, the Question is about a person named Adam and his bellybutton.   The Question does suggest other responses that are not yes or no.

1. Inquisitive - Why is Adam's belly button important?

2. Rationalist - What is the reason for the question?

3. Knowlege - No concept of creation.

4. Indifferent - I don't care.

5. Unknown - Not discovered.

6. Not important - No. important and unimportant are still important. Not important means no existence to make important.

7. Alternative - A different story about creation.

The world is full of different tribes and cultures. Each may have similar ideas about creation or the lack of ideas itself.  A rock has a complete response.