The Six Million Dollar Man

The Six Million Dollar Man
Harold J. Morowit(1927)z
Major theme: To find out the (chemical) value of human life which is priceless.
Dr. Harold J Morowita is a professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He is a scientist, teacher, and author. ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ is a popular essay in which Morowitz examines the statistical statement that the chemical value of the human body is only 97 cents. He spends his essay in refining and improving the statement and tries to arrive at a more accurate definition at the end.
From a biochemical catalogue he collects the information about the price of ingredients that the human body is made of. Then he calculates the average value of a gram dry weight of human being and his own dry weight. When he multiplies both, he finds his price, i.e. Six million dollar. But soon he realizes that each human being is priceless and infinitely precious. He concludes his essay with Alfred North Whiteheads conclusion that “ the human body is an instrument for the production at art in the life of the human soul.”
The author received a humorous birthday and from his daughter and son-in-law with a caption “ According to BIOCHEMISTS the materials that make up the HUMAN BODY are only worth 190 cents.” The definition compelled him to make thorough study of the entire matter. He started by sitting down with his catalogue from a biochemical company and began to list the ingredients and their prices. His biochemical value was 97c when he was paying for the informally poorest form of cool, air, water, lime, bulk iron, etc. but in the six million dollar figure he was paying for his atoms in the highest informational state in which they are commercially available.
It can be done for less than six thousand trillion dollars. But we cannot evaluate the human life in biochemical point of view. An incubator can develop micro-organisms artificially but it cannot assemble the cells into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into a person, fill it with life and make a human being.
Thus, each human being is priceless and infinitely precious. We cannot evaluate a person’s life in terms of money. The rationality and humanity are the characteristics of human being. It can produce anything. Alfred North Whitehead is true that “ The human body is an instrument for the production of art in the life of human soul.”
Morowitz shifts his subject. He starts out talking about the human body and ends up talking about the human being. Human body and human being differ from each other. Human body is made up of chemical organism but a man becomes human being because of consciousness, rationality and some indispensable human qualities.

Alternatively,

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN
Written by: Harold J. Morowitz (1927)

In this essay the writer examines and criticizes the statical statement that the chemical value of the human body is only a few cents and not even a dollar .The writer once got a birthday card which mentioned that the chemical values of the Human body in only 97 cents. He was not satisfied with this definition and wanted to make a complete study of that matter by himself. The writer took a chemical supply catalogue and began to look the prices of all the chemicals that composed the human body. As he calculated the percentage of each chemical in the composition of the human body, he found out that the average value of a dry human body (Body composition without water) was 245.54 $/gram. The writer’s dry weight was 24436 grams .Finally multiplying his weight by 245.54 he found out that his body worth was more than $ 6 million.
But when the writer examined further he found out that the $ 6 million figure of the average human bodies worth is inaccurate .Even six million dollar were very low price for the human body. That figures applies only to the Human atoms price at their raw or informational state. But the chemicals in the human body are in purified stage .If the supply companies of chemicals had to purify or synthesize these chemical at raw state ,the price of a human body would be 6 billion dollar.
Now if these synthesized molecules were assembled into the cell, then the price would jump to six hundred billion or perhaps six trillion dollar. Now if we assemble the cells into tissues, the tissue into the organs and the organs into the whole body the price of the human body will increase beyond of ours immunization. Then, we suddenly realizes that each human being is infinity priceless.
Thus the writer begins with talking about the low price of human body and ends up talking about the priceless human being .He begins with isolated chemicals and then goes to larger compounds like cells, tissue, organ and then finally to a human being .From few cents he comes to dollar and from few dollar he comes to the great philosophical conclusion that every human being is endlessly valuable.