Can you know thyself through personal science? Most of us strive to know and define ourselves. JAWPEER wants to make it easier. By chewing, both the brain and the look can improve. “Know Thyself” was the famous inscription on the temple of Apollo in ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks trained, fought, danced, fasted, ate, chewed, and philosophized to get to know themselves.
The philosopher Michel Foucault believed that what we call the self is physically measurable. Body hacking, fitness, bodybuilding, yoga, meditation, martial arts, eHealth, and eSports are all strategies to get to know yourself. Because people are different, there is no one-size-fits-all method. Who we are and want to become is determined by our environment, heritage, and habits.
Heritage
Our heritage is hardwired in the genes. We cannot change DNA, but we can adapt to it. Through a DNA test, we can map our properties. What is good or healthy varies between different individuals. Evolutionary medicine is based on the fact that our DNA is not adapted to the rapid changes in society. Since we are genetically Stone Age people, it is good for us to eat the paleo diet and chew a lot. What we eat is a matter of nutrition. A diet adapted to your DNA can increase your well-being, and even prolong life. But it is not enough to eat right; the environment must be good as well.
Environment
The human environment has changed enormously since the Stone Age, not only because of the greenhouse effect. Genetically, we are made to live as hunter-gatherers in flocks and sleep in the open air. Most modern people live in a city and eat fast food. According to “Iceman” Wim Hof, we can strengthen the immune system by getting out of the comfort zone and exposing the body to extreme stress such as lack of oxygen and cold. Living too comfortably is devastating in the long run.
Habits
If you want to make an everlasting change, you better change a habit. Habits are done without thinking. Psychologist William James said that 99.9 percent of our behavior is controlled by habits. Good habits make your life good and vice versa. Self-control is about embracing good habits, but most people who try to change habits fail. Habits should therefore change gradually and one step at a time. As with JAWPEER: start carefully. In this way, the body has time to adapt.
Get to know yourself
The contemporary individualist project is to explore and identify oneself. You cannot change your DNA, but you can change the environment and habits. Research shows that it is easiest to change a habit while changing your environment. If you are moving or changing jobs, you should also take the chance to create a new and better habit. Do not try to change more than one. The chance of success is much greater if you concentrate on one thing at a time. Before you change first it is good to understand how you work.
Personal science grows with self-tracking
Personal science is perhaps the fastest growing global trend. Gary Wolf TED talk is about the technology that changes our lifestyle: smartwatches, mobile apps, IoT, and cloud services monitor our physical bodies around the clock, even at night. Not only if you sleep but also what kind of sleep – deep, light, or REM sleep. Mapping one’s own habits with the help of technology are called self-tracking. This means measuring how the body behaves in different situations. Today, more than every other Swede has an app to keep track of how much they exercise, eat, or sleep. Technology makes personal science much easier. All that is required is that you are systematic and curious.
The Quantified Self – know thyself with technological aid
If we want to be more efficient and rational, we need to get to know ourselves better, says Gary Wolf. He started the QS movement, a community that deals with self-knowledge. Many physical connections are general and apply to all of us: If we sleep too little, we get tired. If we overwork a muscle, we get exercise pain etc. But some connections differ because we have different bodies, blood groups, allergies or hormones. Self-knowledge is about understanding things that affect you and no one else.
Personal Science is Just Like Other Science
Personal science uses the same methods as ordinary science. It is about finding a connection between cause and effect in an experimental way. The difference is that the researcher and the object of study are one and the same person. If you want to experiment with yourself, it is advisable to research one thing at a time. Otherwise, it can be difficult to plot causes and effects. If you check what happens when you chew JAWPEER there are a lot of things to examine. What happens to the saliva flow? How do the jaw muscles react? Do you experience any difference in concentration? Stress? Mood swing? Face shape? Take one thing at a time. Try to measure the effect with an app, so you do not have to make subjective estimates.
JAWPEER is careful with the risks
For the safety of our users, JAWPEER is careful with the risks. The material is well tested and does not emit any harmful substances. To investigate what happens if someone happens to swallow the product, I have swallowed one on purpose. I must say it passed unnoticed through the digestive system. For those who still are worried about swallowing the product, we recommend using a safety line.
Explore your unknown senses
The philosopher Aristotle, who lived in ancient Greece, thought we had only five senses. You may have heard that too. But we have at least thirteen. Chewing can stimulate ten or maybe more. The mouth registers taste and smell, but also temperature, pain, proprioception, light touch, hard touch, disgust (an own sense!), Fluid, and salt balance. All these senses are united in what is called mouthfeel. JAWPEER is therefore an extraordinary experience. CHEW PEER Collection contains products of different sizes and hardness. Examine your mouthfeel and hopefully, you will find a personal favorite.
Feel free to report interesting results
If you chew JAWPEER and discover an interesting connection, you should pay extra attention. Repeat the experiment to see if it gives the same result again. Change the experiment a little and try to get a different result. Remember that the body strives for balance, so it adapts gradually. If the result remains, try to measure the result quantitatively in some way and report it to us. Technological developments make it much easier for us to get to know ourselves than it was in ancient Greece.