I came to realize how much we humans take for granted about our bodies when I had a little accident recently.

I was browning meat on the top of the stove before putting it in the oven to braise and when I went to turn it, the meat slipped from the fork, fell into the pan with a thud, splashing hot olive oil all over my face and neck. One area is a third degree burn–a first for me–and it’s now scabbing over and looks more gruesome than it feels.

The scab is my own body putting a Band-aid over the burn, keeping the area free from infection, protecting it from bacteria, shutting out the world so it can heal. It did this without my knowledge or instruction and after Googling “Why do bodies create scabs?” I thought a lot about all the things my body does by way of its own natural intelligence.

There’s no lack of agreement that the human body, with all its interconnected systems, is the most advanced structure in the known universe. It is a marvel of biomechanical engineering.

There’s a whole magical kingdom inside of us, or a high-functioning Central Intelligence Agency with its own office and special mandates. And despite hundreds of years of study, there’s so much we still don’t know about how the place runs.

Here’s a great example: medical students were always taught that there are 78 organs in the human body. In 2017, that number was revised, with the announcement of a new organ: the mesentery. Until that time, this part of the digestive tract that transports blood and lymphatic fluid between the intestines and the rest of the body was believed to be made of separate structures.

Researchers in Ireland revealed that it is in fact one structure, bringing the organ count to 79.

And how about this: in the few moments it takes to read this column, your lungs will inhale and exhale some 300 sextillion oxygen molecules, and your bone marrow will create about 200 million red blood cells.

200 million red blood cells in five minutes? That’s what they say, but I’m not sure who’s doing the counting. I would think he’d still be counting now.

We rarely acknowledge the thousands of functions our bodies perform throughout the day, like producing 300 billion new cells every 24 hours, and constantly repairing and rebuilding them. Never mind that this all began from one single cell that eventually created you–now a collection of 100 trillion cells. But think about this one more time: There’s a whole city inside of you fast at work producing 300 billion new cells every 24 hours. It’s hard to wrap your mind around.

If that doesn’t impress you, how about this? Even though your brain is composed of 80 percent water, it can hold five times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Oh, and it does all this on the same amount of power as a 10-watt light bulb. And the biggest question is this: why do humans use such a small portion of the brain’s potential?

If we could answer that, we could change the world in the next ten minutes. We humans are capable of so much brain power, but in fact, use only 60-90 percent of available neurons in our brains–something that perplexes scientists. They call it “neural dark matter.” (It might be true that people living in Washington, D.C. have more neural dark matter than the rest of us.)

If you’ve ever wondered why we need to rest at night, think about this: each day your blood travels through blood vessels measuring more than 60,000 miles in length. That’s twice the circumference of the earth, all inside your own body.

The great sadness in all of this is that we’re not really taught what a miracle we are. We marvel at super computers and new technology never realizing that, we, ourselves, are the most advanced structure in the known universe.

Rather than being taught what a miracle our bodies are, we’re offered fast food and a regular sprinkle of pesticides on our plant-based foods, and we’re stressed out and we’re not sleeping well and more often than not, our beautifully functioning machines go a little haywire and things like cancer turn up.

I don’t remember once during this pandemic anyone in charge telling me what supplements might help keep my immune system strong, or that fresh air and exercise are good for me, or that eating well might provide a good defense to illness.

So, I’ll do the reminding: your body is a temple. And it’s a super computer. And it’s nothing short of a miracle. If you’re going to survive this modern era intact, you’re going to have to work to take care of it, because God knows, no one else is going to teach you how. You’re on your own here.

But thankfully, our brains are capable of learning new things. Research nutrition. Study supplements. Get outside and walk! And whatever you do, be careful of hot oil on the stove.

Although, we all have our Neanderthal moments.