Beyond the Machine: why the body can't be reduced to parts

The piece argues that while mechanical metaphors can aid medical tasks, treating the body as a machine distorts biology. It traces shifts from Harvey, Descartes, Newton, and La Mettrie toward recognizing complex networks and evolved constraints, such as gut–brain signaling and form-versus-function limits (e.g., the eye’s blind spot, birth canal design). The author cautions against tacit reductionism, suggesting a holistic view informed by yoga philosophy and evolutionary medicine to better guide health and wellbeing.