There is a word that I find very interesting. It is "stereognosis". Stereognosis
is learning
through manipulating objects. A child playing with blocks is learning through
touch.
Handling three dimensional objects like blocks helps the child's brain develop.

We are familiar with learning through handling objects with the hands. But did
you ever
think about the information you gather by "handling" objects with your feet?
Everything
underfoot contributes to our learning process. Rocks, grass, pebbles and sand
are objects
that send messages to our brains

There was a Japanese school years ago that was entirely barefooted. The faculty
felt that
the students learned more while being unshod. The occasional splinter was worth
the
benefits of learning through the feet.

Go to YouTube and you will find loads of interesting videos on people who can do
spectacular things with their feet.

There is one video of a woman born with arms. She could do a variety of things
you would
not think possible like eating with chopsticks. There are even people who can
solve
Rubik's Cube with their feet.

Are we using our full intelligence? Does encasing the foot and limiting the
input from the
outside world cause a kind of sensory "blindness"? Is the shoe in a sense a type
of sensory
deprivation chamber? Could the loss of stereognosis lead to over a lifetime the
type of
fragility we see with aging?

The real interesting thing is that stereognosis is linked to proprioception.
Proprioception
means sense of self. It is beyond the 5 senses. Proprioception is the way that
when we
close our eyes we can still sense ourselves. We do this through the stretch of
muscles, the
angulation of joints and deep pressure to the bottom of the feet. Proprioception
is what
the police officer checks in a checkpoint to see if you have been drinking.
Touching your
finger to your nose with your eyes closed is a proprioceptive test.

People with Alzheimer's lose proprioceptive abilities and have a distinctive
loss of
stereognosis. Could lack of stimulation of proprioceptors and accompanying loss
of
stereognosis lead to the devastating loss of self that Alzheimer's patients
experience?
Could we develop new and unique ways to stave off the effects of aging if we
just started
playing with our feet- again?

What do you think? And how would you do it?

Kevin Kunz