The Body as a Buffer: Physiological Evidence of Yang's Ben-Shi Sliding in Energy-Efficiency Theory

The body is the total buffer of multicellular life—a boundary structure that stores energy, regulates exchange, and dynamically adjusts to disturbances. This paper develops an interpretation within Energy-Efficiency Theory (EET). Starting from Yang's Axioms, we propose that the body is a nested constraint structure that maintains an internal steady state by continuously balancing energy intake, storage, and dissipation. The skin is the outermost boundary, the vasculature is the energy distribution network, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the regulatory controller. Yang's Ben-Shi Sliding—the dynamic balance between conservation (guarding the core) and expansion (engaging the environment)—is physiologically instantiated as vasomotor activity: sympathetic activation constricts peripheral vessels (conservation), while parasympathetic activation dilates them (expansion). The body thus operates as a reusable buffer that protects vital organs, smooths energy fluctuations, and enables adaptive behavior. The framework integrates with the membrane buffer (cell level), the neural buffer (information level), and the cognitive buffer (mind level), forming a unified account of buffers across scales. Testable predictions are proposed regarding heart rate variability, stress responses, and the energy cost of maintaining homeostasis.