So I decided that today would be a good day to start blogging about the knees. "Why?" you ask? Well, it's quite simple actually.. why not?  I thought it was time... Carpe Diem. or something.  I decided that today is the day, so I'm going for it..

 

Now, the question is.. What do I blog about?  I mean, obviously something knee-related, but that's such a broad topic.  Where does one begin??

Perhaps at the beginning. 

The birth of the knee.  I heard it goes something like this:

 

One day, mommy and daddy were in love and decided to have a baby.  Suddenly (or, you know, nine months later), out pops a baby with two little, tiny knees! Now, this little baby begins by crawling on his (yep! You got it!) knees!  How adorable!! ...

 

Ok, that wasn't very funny.  Or very informational.  *sigh* 

I guess it's time to get serious, right? But serious is boring.  Seriously. 

 

On a side note, I just tried googling "funny knee stories" and have now learned that apparently the medical community does not find knee-related injuries too amusing. There are virtually NO funny knee stories out there.  It's not fair! We're discriminating against those of us who choose to find humor in every situation, regardless of appropriateness. 

 

So what can I say about knees? One thing I've noticed is that no one seems to really appreciate their utility until suddenly faced with knee-related problems.  Most people don't really give it much thought day to day.  Arbitrary though it may be, I feel as though we, as a society, should focus on making sure that our knees stay healthy from the minute we are born.  Why? Because since we've started walking, most of us have forgotten the significance of, or more importantly, the role that our knees have played in our development.  Before we begin to walk, we learn to crawl using our (*ehem*) knees.  Yep, that's right. We've got to give kudos to our knees for playing such an important role in our ability to be mobile.

 
 
Knees also play a very significant part in our social development.  I have separated the impact that knees have on our lives to social and physical development because it plays a different role, depending on context.  For example, it would not be too difficult to imagine how different our physical developments would be without knees.  Not only would it affect the obvious (i.e. walking), but it would also affect the way that the rest of our body develops.  I've always been told in my science classes that our bodies are all about maintaining homeostasis. This means that without fully functioning knees, our bodies would have to come up with a way to compensate for it, (possibly) affecting the physical development of other parts of our bodies.  Something interesting to think about however, is "how would our brain chemistry/structure be affected if we were to be born without knees?"

 

However, now imagine how our social development would be affected by non-functional (maybe non-existent) knees?  First of all, it would limit our ability to travel independently.  Yes, we could always invent something that will take us from one location to another (wheelchairs, cars, segways) but has anyone considered the social impact that such technologies have had on society?  Though it is indeed great that we have developed the capabilities to travel long distances in a short amount of time, the speed and isolation with which we expect from such modes of transportation have rendered us rather isolated from nature/the world.  Though today's society seems to have gone on a very trendy health-kick which has helped increase the awareness of the importance of health and exercise, in my opinion, it has merely served to further de-socialized us from the rest of the world.  For example, when was the last time you drove to the closest gym to run on a treadmill with headphones on, instead of going for a jog outside? 

Though it is true that in today's violence-ridden society, running on a treadmill in the comfort and safety of a gym is a reasonable choice, it doesn't change the fact that it has changed the way that people interact and socialize.  We are social creatures, and yet, as we make further advances into technology, we seem to be heading in the opposite direction of what is natural.   

Just saying...

 

 

 

[[ Opinions and arbitrary comments made by writer does not reflect anything but the need to get one's thoughts down on "paper".  Please don't judge. ]]