Use the force, brain...
I've consumed a lot of Star Wars content this year. It's something my son and I can share together, plus the nostalgia and escapism has served me well during a stressful year. So, forgive me for yet another consideration of science and Star Wars.
The Force is always an interesting concept to think about. Its rules are not always that well defined, but it's fair to think of it an extrasensory ability rooted in microbiology. I know, midi-chlorians are/were a frequent pain point for a certain variety of ultra-orthodox Star Wars fan, but I've never found it at all exhausting that an interstellar order of high-tech warrior monks would find a way to scientifically quantify their mystical abilities. Microorganisms seem to be a perfectly reasonable place to look.
Now, I should stress that I have not read everything ever written on the possible science of the Force, nor have I read every author's take on describing it (though I've enjoyed some of the treatments found in various Star Wars novels). But I DID recently read neuroscientist David Eagleman's new book Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain and it got me thinking even more about it.
The book deals with the emerging realization that our brains are highly adaptive to the environment -- and to new sensory input as well. With work and motivation, our brains swiftly "rewire" to deal with catastrophic injuries. They adapt to accommodate the loss of one sense, boost others and can even learn to deal with all-new sensory imputs as well.
Eagleman uses the example of a Mr. Potatohead to explain this. We're plug-and-play. Sure, the sense organs we're born with feed input to the brain that inform our understanding of our environment, but you can essentially plug an eye in an ear-hole or an ear in an eye-hole and the brain will make sense of it all with time. What's more, we're increasingly seeing that you can plug other forms of sensory imput into the neural potato-head and it can potentially create a sense of this as well. We've seen this with biohackers who have developed a sense of the magnetic field via magnetic implants -- similar to what is found in migratory birds.
Eagleman argues that we could essentially plug any data-stream into our brains and it could learn to make sense of it. Stock data? Experience your Wallstreet Sense. Twitter Data? Well, Eagleman is more of a social media optimist than me and contends this could induce a sort of natural sense of the planetary zeitgeist. To me, it sounds like a pathway to the dark side.
Anyway, yes, that's the whole connection to the Force here. If.certain individuals DID have an extra sensory input via the oscillation or wave emissions of tiny organisms in their blood, the brain could learn to use it as a means of understanding the world. As is the case with individuals whose brains have learned to transmit touch into sight or adjust to an artificial limb, it would take time and commitment, but it's entirely within reach of the potato-head brain.
The greater the midi-chlorian count, the stronger the sensory signal and therefore the potentially greater connection with the external environment and other lifeforms. This also, I suppose, could entail an enhanced output as well, as seen in various force abilities that alter the environment or interact with the biology of other organisms.
The Force moves in mysterious ways, but so does the human brain. Both present a pathway to many abilities...
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