The Original Biohack

We go about this human experience learning to eat, sleep, move, feel, think, and be with others. How we learn these collections of inputs shape who we are – physically, emotionally, and cognitively. That development of self shapes how we show up outwardly – the care of others, our work, and how we fill our creative thinking. Ever wonder why doomscrolling news content impacts your mood? Or if you are used to a fitness routine, you feel anxious when you miss a session or two? Or unexpected news can throw off your routine? This delicate design of inputs, how we process the world, and outputs, how we show up, is a recognized pattern. It occurs in nature, part of us, and applied to various systems. 

For humans, this balance of inputs and outputs is maintained through a series of homeostatic processes. Our skin cells shed as new ones come to the surface. Garbage disposal cells are equally important to the generating ones in our bodily function. Consumption of information distilled to decision-making. This is simplified and broadstroke, but the balance is what keeps disease at bay. 

Machines and technology are made to be faster, better, and cheaper, while following these same principles. 

This makes our latest obsession with optimization a natural derivative. More are at our fingertips than ever. Ways to measure, protocols to follow, and new discoveries to try. This linear trajectory towards an end doesn’t feel quite right; are we losing core elements along the way? We are certainly a culture obsessed with measurement: our productivity, success, health, happiness, and more. 

What happens when the measurement is more valuable than the experience? An unintended consequence of hitting goals and forgetting to actually sense the shift. Next thing you know, we focus on the measurement without knowing why, we rely only on data from our wearables rather than knowing how to sense our body. 

Resilience is the capacity of a system to process, reorganize, and maintain core functions. Said differently, this input and output design is very much the concept of homeostasis. Coined by Walter B Cannon in the early 1920s to describe how the body maintains steady state in the face of dynamic changes.

When you look at the longevity of businesses, it is the adaptation of innovation in the face of change that makes it appear strategic and natural. Netflix, as an example, navigated the shift from DVD rentals to streaming without losing their customer base. They maintained homeostasis in the face of cultural shifts without losing their core identity (entertainment on demand) that resulted in a new output. 

Goodhart's Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a good measure. In health, as we obsess with measurement and optimization, do we tip the balance too much, and lose the purpose.

The goals are the same, we want this human experience to be as long as it can be, free of ailments and suffering. But can we know the sweetness of life without the pain? What happens when we are optimized and unexpected events are seen as errors in code, panic buttons for escape, because it is not part of the decision algorithm. 

Homeostasis, the flexible design that refines the setpoint of any system, ought to be the optimization framework for health and organizations.