You’ve seen them stand around in shallow water at zoos or in documentaries. They are long-legged upside-down feeders that balance on a single leg without seeming to sway. Flamingoes. Try imitating their almost motionless stance on a single leg, and you will probably begin to sway. The gentlest of forces can disturb your balance.
A couple of researchers have discovered that the center of gravity of a flamingo lies within the body and that by comparison with you, the visible “leg” of a flamingo is just its shin, ankle, and toes. That’s the reason that the “knee” appears to bend the wrong way: It’s actually the ankle that most of us would interpret to be the bird’s knee.*
Keeping one’s physical balance depends on structures and processes that we can determine through observation and experiment. We now know, for example, what role our inner ear plays in our remaining upright. We also know that a redistribution of weight that can occur with age and a weakening of signals along a long leg nerve can jeopardize that ability to balance.
We have also observed that people can have difficulty keeping their emotional balance when external forces remove or influence part of their support. Unlike the physical balance of flamingoes and healthy young people, any person can sway when part of the support system of family and friends is no longer available. Human emotional balance is often difficult to maintain; there's always a potential of falling.
Each of us needs some support for emotional balance. Standing on “one emotional leg” is difficult. We're just not built like flamingoes. That we recognize our own potential imbalance might be a reason that we often provide support that gives balance to others.You are surrounded by people swaying under emotional stress, people who have lost some support and who are dependent on others for balance.
To those teetering on total imbalance, say the words Bill Withers sings: “Lean on me.”
* https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-flamingo-balances-one-leg?mode=topic&context=76 Y-H. Chang and L.H. Ting. Mechanical evidence that flamingos can support their body on one leg with little muscular force. Biology Letters. Published online May 24, 2017. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0948
A couple of researchers have discovered that the center of gravity of a flamingo lies within the body and that by comparison with you, the visible “leg” of a flamingo is just its shin, ankle, and toes. That’s the reason that the “knee” appears to bend the wrong way: It’s actually the ankle that most of us would interpret to be the bird’s knee.*
Keeping one’s physical balance depends on structures and processes that we can determine through observation and experiment. We now know, for example, what role our inner ear plays in our remaining upright. We also know that a redistribution of weight that can occur with age and a weakening of signals along a long leg nerve can jeopardize that ability to balance.
We have also observed that people can have difficulty keeping their emotional balance when external forces remove or influence part of their support. Unlike the physical balance of flamingoes and healthy young people, any person can sway when part of the support system of family and friends is no longer available. Human emotional balance is often difficult to maintain; there's always a potential of falling.
Each of us needs some support for emotional balance. Standing on “one emotional leg” is difficult. We're just not built like flamingoes. That we recognize our own potential imbalance might be a reason that we often provide support that gives balance to others.You are surrounded by people swaying under emotional stress, people who have lost some support and who are dependent on others for balance.
To those teetering on total imbalance, say the words Bill Withers sings: “Lean on me.”
* https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-flamingo-balances-one-leg?mode=topic&context=76 Y-H. Chang and L.H. Ting. Mechanical evidence that flamingos can support their body on one leg with little muscular force. Biology Letters. Published online May 24, 2017. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0948
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