A World of Sense

Much of what we do in Mogg’s Group involves an exploration of the world around us and, in the process, an exploration of the very tools required to perform such an endeavour. Observation, prediction, experimentation, note-taking, observation, discussion – all these skills equip the explorer with the means to identify, verify and ultimately question the nature of the living world. Our senses are the essential conduit through which we perceive and therefore, is one of the best starting points for this journey of exploration. To understand both the purpose and mechanism of perception alongside the equally important psychological impact of interpreting sensory information in the brain helps the explorer to truly understand the reliability of the fundamental means by which they gain knowledge.

The human body is often perceived and taught as a set of systems. These systems form a complex interactive whole, but when first encountered we perceive them as dissected into segregated entities: the skeletal system, the muscular system, the digestive system, the nervous system and so on. Where to start? Functionally, the skeletal system underpins our sense of our own physicality and so it easily adopts the role of being the connective tissue binding the other inner and outer body systems. Using specialist software, we have data logged our own body measurements in order to make paper skeletons which have an uncanny resemblance to our inner selves! We have drawn the different joints, examined the names of the largest and smallest bones and identified the curious ways in which the body frame is so dependent on the other systems in order to function properly. I perceive my bones, therefore I am?