The Chiropractic 33 Principles are the building blocks to the philosophy, science and art of Chiropractic. They were first documented by R.W. Stephenson in 1927. Stephenson states, “The Science of Chiropractic holds that a Universal Intelligence created and is maintaining everything in the universe. This is manifested by movement and is called Life. A specific, definite portion of this intelligence, localized in a definite portion of matter and keeping it actively organized, is called by Chiropractic, Innate Intelligence. The function of an inborn, localized intelligence is to adapt some of the forces and matter of the universe in a constructive manner.”

Chiropractic is a study and application of palpating the spinal column to locate, analyze and facilitate the correction of vertebral subluxation through a chiropractic adjustment to relieve interference upon nerves so that the nerve force may flow freely from the brain to the rest of the body, allowing more normal function and, in Stephenson’s terms, more life.

If you look up the definition of life you might find something similar to “life is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” 

Life defined in the human biology world can be viewed in the lens of neurology. Without the neurological system functioning properly in your body, you literally have a body with less life. The brain is the the first organ to develop in utero and is the last organ working to distinguish death. Our bodies require the brain and neurological system in order to express life.

Principle 2 of the Chiropractic 33 Principles states “The expression of this intelligence through matter is the Chiropractic meaning of life.”

What does R.W. Stephenson mean when he says “intelligence is being expressed through matter”?

All matter has atoms and in order for matter to exist, there needs to be an organization to the electrons around the atom. This organization within the atomic level and throughout the universe and within our body indicates intelligence is present. Logically speaking, you can conclude that intelligence exists due to the presence of organization. Intelligence is a property of organization.  The two require each other to exist.  

Stephenson uses the word “intelligence” in the second principle to describe the organization within the universe and within our human body due to observation that atoms and molecules have bundles of energy expressing information. Information not in the sense of facts, but rather, arrangements or sequences that show organization. 

Bundles of energy expressing information within our body occur through neurological impulses or mental impulses from brain to body and body back to brain. This cyclical expression of information expresses function within the body. The expression of information via energy through the nerves is abstract and tangible in terms of science. You can’t touch, see or feel the information that is being expressed, but within each bundle of energy is packed full of information that is demonstrated through its function and healing within the human body.

Albert Einstein once wrote on a blackboard: “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” 

This expression of information within our neurophysiology is reminder that our quality of life within the realm of wellbeing is not always verifiable through the lens of measurement. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The absence of that which can be measured does not necessarily mean completeness or wholeness is being expressed. 

Health and wellbeing defined within the philosophy, science and art of chiropractic is an expression of intelligence. Mental impulses coordinate the human body’s trillions of cells in a state of active organization or otherwise known as adaptation. 

This is why chiropractors are passionate and focused on the body’s ability to express proper function through the brain-body connection at the spinal cord level to protect and direct the neurological system.