Ok so I just finished reading Seventh Son and Red Prophet and I couldn't figure out why Alvin gets tired after healing himself and others, is it from the mental exertion it takes to "explain to the universe how the tissue is supposed to be" or however it was explained?
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Sonny P,
Exertion implies expenditure of energy. I could imagine that the act of healing, particularly of others, might constitute an exceptional drain.
fallow
Posted by AmkaProblemka (Member # 6495) on :
A molecule or particle isn't going to move just because it has a will to. It needs the energy to propel itself, or a force pushing or pulling it. Where would this come from?
Also, intense concentration can exhaust people. I think it is very consistant with what Alvin is doing.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
From how I read those books, the particles *do* just move because they want to.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Sounds like Quantum Reality...
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
first of all excuse my grammer.
Second of all, OSc created this story in a world where magic works. It is impossible to try and explain things that happens in the story by what we know in our world because it isnt the same.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
Well said, Little Doctor.
Posted by manz7 (Member # 2877) on :
Well, I'm back. Haven't been around in a while.
Yes, it's a lot of energy used to help someone (or yourself) to heal. Read up on it. Some people get completely drained. As for myself, it doesn't bother me much.
I've read all of the Alvin Maker series and I like it. Just wish that OSC would keep on writing more about 7th sons. Big parts of his work is true -"IF"- you believe. Faith healing has been around since before Doctors and etc.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Never really exerted yourself thinking? Sorry, low blow but welcome to Hatrack. The brain does use over 1/4 of the body's basal metabolism without really even trying to do anything.
However, mental exhaustion tends to come not from calorie expenditure, but from neurotransmitter use. That's part of why we have to spend a lot of our lives sleeping.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote: Faith healing has been around since before Doctors and etc.
Indeed, and there is a reason doctors replaced them, to wit, medical science works reliably.
Posted by manz7 (Member # 2877) on :
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, is that why they call it a practice? But, overall, with liability lawsuits and etc - they do have to have everybody sign-off on complications and anything else that could go wrong. I know, I've had a couple of operations (myself) and they make you sign off all kinds of ways - so that you can't sue. It was my good luck that there were no complications.
I went to a dentist when I was 17 or 18 and he was drunk - broke my tooth inside - left it there and when I went in the service in 1968 the Army dentist had a very hard time to fix the mess the drunk did. I was young - what did I know. It was not the "sue me" era.
But, OSC - does make great books - that's what these links are all about - his stuff and how it relates to life. It does - a lot.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
pooka, it takes energy (which was extracted from ingested food) to move those neurotransmitters around. Active transport takes quite a bit of ATP and other cellular energy.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Sorry, low blow but welcome to Hatrack. The brain does use over 1/4 of the body's basal metabolism without really even trying to do anything.