New age: Details about 'Biorhythm'
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A biorhythm (or biological rhythm) is a hypothetical cyclic pattern of alterations in physiology, emotions, and/or intellect. "Bio" pertains to life and "rhythm" pertains to the flow with regular movement.
The basic theoryThe theory of biorhythms claims that one's life is affected by rhythmic biological cycles, and seeks to make predictions regarding these cycles and the personal ease of carrying out tasks related to the cycles. These inherent rhythms are said to control or initiate various biological processes and are classically composed of three cyclic rhythms that are said to govern human behaviour and demonstrate innate periodicity in natural physiological change: the physical, the emotional, and the intellectual (or mental) cycles. Others claim there are additional rhythms, some of which may be combinations of the three primary cycles. Some proponents think that biorhythms may be potentially related to bioelectricity and its interactions in the body. Basic Rhythm Details:
Basic rhythms follow certain facets of physiological cycles, though they may include others, and the details may vary depending on the source. The three classical cycles of biorhythms are endogenous infradian rhythms. The theory's basis lies in physiological and emotional cycles. They are often represented graphically as either symmetric or asymmetric waveforms, though most theories rely on symmetric forms. The most commonly used form is the sinusoidal waveform, which is thought to be a plausible representation of a bioelectric activity cycle. Due to this sinusoidal nature, the cyclical flow of bioelectric activity undergoes periodic reverses in direction. Each cycle oscillates between a positive phase and a negative phase , during which bioelectric activity strengthens and weakens. The waveforms start, in most theories, at the neutral baseline (0%) at the time of birth of each individual. Each day that the waveform again crosses this baseline is dubbed a critical day, which means that tasks in the domain of the cycle are supposed to be far more difficult to carry out successfully than on other non-critical days. The purpose of mapping the biorhythmic cycles is to enable the calculation of critical days for performing or avoiding various activities. The classical definition (derivatives of the original theory exist) states that one's birth is an unfavorable circumstantial event, as is the day about 58 years later when the three cycles are again synchronised at their minimum values. According to the classical definition, the theory is assumed to apply only to humans. In the classical theory, the value of each cycle can be calculated at any given time in the life of an individual, and there are web sites that do exactly that. Related terminology
Biological rhythm cycles
PlausibilityProponents of biorhythmics call it an established interdisciplinary area of scientific endeavor, which is still speculative in many facets. Critics state that biorhythms are based upon only numerological associations and elementary math. Biorhythmics' plausibility is contested by various mathematicians, some biologists and other scientists. Biorhythms have echoes of chronobiology, the study of circadian and other rhythms. Through medical research, doctors have found that there are periodicity and rhythms during a person's lifespan, although few doctors believe they correspond to those described as "biorhythms". Biochronometry has shown that rhythm and cycles such as the circadian (from the Latin circa diem; literally, "about a day") exist. These discoveries, among others, have shown that people are affected by physiological, emotional and intellectual rhythms (though the exact relationships to the biorhythm cycles are not precisely understood). Studies in this (some say, self-described) protoscience are still being done regarding the effects of biorhythm on the human condition. The Biorhythm theory is often treated as falsely claiming scientific validity. Biorhythm critic responses range from opposing it as harmful through ignoring it to accepting it as entertainment. Some biorhythm critics raise one or more of the following criticisms for the various theories that fall under the category of Biorhythmics:
ApplicationIn the workplace, railroads and airlines have experimented the most with biorhythms. A pilot describes the Japanese and American attitudes towards biorhythms. He acknowledges, researching his pilot logbook, that his greatest errors of judgment occurred during critical days, but concludes that an awareness of one's critical days and paying extra attention is sufficient to ensure safety. A former United Airlines pilot and user of the Biorhythms for Windows program confirms that United Airlines used biorhythms until the mid-1990s, while the Nippon Express air freight still used biorhythms. HistoryThe classical theory originated at the turn of the 19th century, between 1897 and 1902, from observational research. Dr. Hermann Swoboda (Professor of Psychology, University of Vienna), who was researching periodic variations in fevers, looked into the possibility of a rhythmic change in mood and health. He collected data on reaction to pain, outbreak of fevers, illnesses, asthma, heart attacks, and recurrent dreams. He concluded that there was a 23-day physical cycle and a 28-day emotional cycle. Dr. Wilhelm Fliess (nose and throat specialist; reportedly a numerologist) independently was researching the occurrences of fevers, recurrent illnesses and deaths in his patients. He too came to the conclusion that there was a 23 and a 28-day rhythm. Fliess's theories were of great interest and importance to Sigmund Freud during his early work in developing his psychoanalytic concepts. Alfred Teltscher (professor of engineering; University of Innsbruck, Austria) observed that his students' good days and bad days followed a rhythmic pattern of 33 days. Teltscher found that the brain's ability to absorb, mental ability, and alertness ran in 33 day cycles. Dr. Rexford Hersey (psychologist; Pennsylvania, America) in the 1920s reportedly made contributions to the classical theory also. These three biorhythms compose the classical theory. The classical theory has been studied, especially in Germany, Japan, and the United States, with conflicting results. Various modern derivatives exist of the classical theory. Patents
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External links, references, and resourcesReference citations
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Research publicationsBiorhythmics
Chronobiology related
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Biorhythmus ביוריתמוס Bioritmas Bioritme バイオリズム
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