The Siphuncle

Here is the diagram that shows the life progression of the nautilus' siphuncle. The nautilus' life begins and at that point in time, the siphuncle is present. At each life "cycle" the animal creates a new "camera"-a chamber-and a septum is formed to separate the living nautilus from the previous chamber. The septa and past chambers form along the siphuncle, each apparently in proportional size and distance from the last.

As life starts, the nautilus has a very small circle of influence along the siphuncle, but by the time the animal dies, it has reached its largest circle of influence and opens up into the world. Along the siphuncle, a calcified record is kept of every major change in the animal's life progression. The empty chambers are necessary for bouancy and enable the nautilus to float in the deep sea waters.

I need to learn more about the function of the siphuncle in order to understand the symbolism I want to attribute to the diagram above.

Diagram from Wikipedia

Nautilus have survived for 500 million years

Although I will use a nautilus shell as a symbol to describe what I have discovered about learning, about systems thinking, and governance, I am intrigued that people like Peter Ward are still studying this creature and learning more about its life and habits every day. There is a Google link to a video of Peter Ward deep sea diving to meet a giant chambered nautilus.
Try www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pfs1lqggms or type in "peter ward nautilus" to Google.

The nautilus shell has symbolic importance to me as a calcified reminder of life's progression. I will find a picture of the inside of the shell that has led me to make some important conclusions that I think need to be thought about in depth by myself and others. Of course, I am not the first to have thought about this.

Explanation of septa

Septa is plural for "septum" which are membranes that separate different chambers within a living organism. We have a "nasal septum" for example. Probably the most commonly known septa in the human body are those within out hearts. The outer and inner ear have chambers separated by septa.

Nautilus

A nautilus is a cephalopod of the genus Nautilus, of Indo-Pacific waters, having a light coiled chambered shell with numerous septa, and numerous tentacles. (Oxford English Reference Dictionary)

This blog is called "nautilus" because it reflects my discovery of what it means to be alive as a human being in the spaces I occupy, at the times I occupied, occupy, or will occupy those spaces.

I live within a light coiled chambered shell.
My life is lived within numerous septa.
My life is a process of discovery through numerous tentacles.

Photos from Wikipedia "chambered nautilus"