Encore Episode, Practical Cosmology • Deborah Woolf

In the study of acupuncture we learn about the Five Phases, the Six Conformations, all kinds of relationships involving three, and the pattern differentiation of illness. You could say we learn about the “user interface” of Chinese medicine, but we don’t much study the underlying mechanics. Much in the same way we use powerful computers without knowing a line of code.In this conversation we touch a bit on the underlying code we are tinkering with when we work in clinic.It’s not often that a mathematician turns to acupuncture, but when she does, you can be assured she will be looking for First Principles to explain all those aphorisms and empirical observations we all learn along the way.