Chapter 34, Problem 19STP

Summary Introduction

To write:

About the importance of the involuntary response system for survival.

Introduction:

The nervous system of the body majorly includes two divisions; the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. The cumulative effect of both the division is to regulate and coordinate all the other functions of the body and to respond to any external stimuli. The nervous system works by relaying information between different parts of the body with the help of neurons.

Explanation of Solution

The central nervous system includes the brain and the spinal cord. It is responsible for interpreting different information and guiding different organs to take appropriate action. The peripheral nervous system connects the central nervous system to every region of the body through a network of nerves. It is further divided into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The somatic nervous system controls all the voluntary actions while the autonomic nervous system controls all the involuntary actions like heartbeat and breathing. It further divides the body functioning into two divisions, during stress conditions which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and during the relaxing or resting phase which is controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system. 

During the resting phase, all the internal organs that control crucial body functions like circulation, breathing, excretion, digestion, and hormonal control continue working as and when the body requires it. The breathing process, excretion process, and circulation system work without any break as these are the crucial activities and any halt in these activities may lead to the death of the person. If these functions were under voluntary control, an individual has to always voluntarily breathe, pump blood or purify the blood. Any lag in performing these activities will lead to the individual’s death. Thus these functions must remain out of voluntary control of a person. Also during sleeping, a person cannot do all the activities voluntarily then in such situations, life would not sustain. The digestion process also works whenever the body consumes any solid food to obtain energy. Voluntary control of digestion may lead to incomplete digestion process or no digestion at all as it is quite a complex process and involves many enzymes from different organs. Making every organ work in a coordinated manner would have been quite a difficult task and the person may get starved. Also, different organs and systems work simultaneously, and voluntarily controlling these systems would have posed a major challenge.

Now another factor that affects the normal functioning of all these activities is any stressful condition that could arise internally or externally. Under stress conditions a system may respond differently while others remain normal, this is also a major challenge to control different systems differently in a stressful condition. Also, a person focuses on the abnormal condition and tries to rectify it first and in such conditions; voluntary control of all other systems would stop. Thus may result in the death of the person. Therefore, it can be concluded that voluntary control of all the functions of the body will not sustain life and thus involuntary control of some crucial life functions is quite important. 

Conclusion

Voluntary control of all the functions of the body will not sustain life and thus involuntary control of some crucial life functions is quite important.