Optimization and Human Movement

Human movement is an ongoing optimization process. A baseball player attempts to contact a ball with a bat so as to propel the latter as far as possible; a rower tries to impart the maximum possible force to the water through an oar, while at the same time avoiding any disturbance to the boat’s forward motion. The cost functions involved are complex, implicit, nonunique, fuzzy, and often subjective. Hundreds of muscles—most of which are not under conscious control—are involved in every motion, and different body geometries, coaches, choreographers, etc., prescribe different criteria for optimal movement. At the same time, the results are unmistakeable: the difference between breakdancing and ballet is patently obvious, even to the untrained eye.