Why Nexus?
-a word that means connection, link, or HUB where multiple forces intersect.
I got the idea after reading a book:
Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus: Where Histories and Futures Converge https://amzn.to/4oTai4y
Yuval Noah Harari, the historian and author best known for Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, often asks us to zoom out and see humanity not as isolated individuals or nations, but as part of vast systems of connection. One of the terms he uses to capture this reality is “Nexus”—a word that means connection, link, or HUB where multiple forces intersect.
What Does Nexus Mean?
At its core, a nexus is not just a single link, but a place where many threads meet. It’s the web of connections that allows different elements to influence one another: biology and technology, economics and culture, the past and the future. For Harari, history is best understood not as a straight line, but as a network of nexuses where ideas, inventions, and decisions converge to shape human destiny.
Think of the printing press in the 15th century: it was a nexus of technological innovation, religious reform, and political upheaval. Or the internet today: a nexus of military research, commercial entrepreneurship, social need, and human creativity. In both cases, no single factor “explains” the event—rather, the convergence itself is the story.
Nexus and Human Agency
Harari often reminds us that humans do not control history in isolation. Instead, we are caught in webs of institutions, beliefs, and technologies. A nexus is where these forces both constrain and empower us. For example:
Climate change is a nexus of science, politics, industry, and ethics.
Artificial intelligence is a nexus of mathematics, economics, warfare, and philosophy.
Human rights are a nexus of culture, religion, law, and collective imagination.
This way of thinking pushes us beyond simple cause-and-effect. A nexus is messy, multi-layered, and alive, which means that understanding it requires seeing interconnections rather than silos.
Why Nexus Matters Now
In the 21st century, Harari suggests we are living in one of the greatest nexuses in human history. Globalization, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and ecological crisis are not separate “issues”—they are deeply entangled. Decisions made in one sphere reverberate across the others.
To grasp the stakes, Harari urges us to adopt a “nexus mindset”:
Recognize interdependence rather than clinging to isolated solutions.
Study history not as a sequence of independent events but as an evolving web.
Understand that the future will be decided not by one invention or one leader, but by the nexus of humanity, technology, and environment working together.
Nexus as Responsibility
Perhaps the most powerful implication of Harari’s concept is ethical. If we live inside nexuses, then our choices ripple outward far beyond what we see. Eating a hamburger links us to climate change, global trade, animal welfare, and cultural traditions. Using a smartphone ties us to supply chains, labor conditions, surveillance, and global communication.
This doesn’t mean individuals are powerless. Quite the opposite: recognizing the nexus allows us to act more wisely, seeing the bigger picture of our decisions and policies.
What “Nexus” Means in Anatomy and Neurology
In neurology, the term nexus describes a critical hub where multiple brain networks converge. A prominent example is the dorsal nexus, a region in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex that links the brain’s cognitive control, affective (emotional), and default‑mode (resting-state) networks. Research suggests it plays a role in the maintenance and manipulation of information, as well as supporting the control of cognitive functions such as behavior, memory, and conflict resolution.
A nexus in anatomy is a connection or link between adjacent cells, most notably seen in the form of gap junctions. These cell junctions are critical for intercellular communication and are broadly categorized into three main functional types: communicating, anchoring, and occluding.
The Nexus of the Massage Therapy Profession: Many Threads, No Web
In the massage therapy profession, we have been missing our nexus.
Seven Organizations, Seven Directions
Today, at least seven national organizations claim to represent or regulate massage therapy—AMTA, ABMP, FSMTB, NCBTMB, AFMTE, COMTA, and the Massage Therapy Foundation. Each one is doing something, but not in coordination. Instead of converging into a nexus of shared purpose, they operate in silos:
AMTA focuses on membership and lobbying. They say they are member-driven but I have yet to see evidence of that.
ABMP markets services to therapists and banks on CE classes.
FSMTB oversees licensing exams and licensing boards.
NCBTMB runs CE approvals and board certification and is mainly controlled and funded by AMTA.
AFMTE sets teacher standards but I am not sure if they are continuing on with that project.
COMTA accredits schools but not many schools are accredited by them. There are also many other accrediting agencies that accredit college and trade schools
The Massage Therapy Foundation funds research and is mainly funded by AMTA.
Individually, these efforts matter. But collectively, they form a scattered map instead of a nexus.
Why the Lack of Nexus Hurts Us All
When professions like nursing, physical therapy, or occupational therapy created their practice frameworks, accreditation systems, and educational standards, they did it through a nexus of collaboration. That convergence is what gave them legitimacy in healthcare, portability across states, and public trust.
Massage therapy, by contrast, suffers from:
Fragmented licensing laws: 45 states, 45 different laws/rules. 5 unlicensed states.
Weak continuing education oversight: two competing systems, neither focused on continuing competence.
Lack of Board Certification that means anything. The current Board Certification does not require much more than most state licensing requirements. It used to require 750 hours but they dropped the number of hours for some reason.
Lack of specialty certification: no clear career progression.
Confused public image: consumers struggle to distinguish therapeutic massage from illicit businesses.
The result? Therapists are underpaid, undervalued, and often misunderstood. And the public—who could benefit most from massage in healthcare—loses access, trust, and coverage.
Building the Nexus We Need
Harari reminds us that history shifts at the points of convergence. If the massage therapy profession is to move forward, we need a Nexus Moment: a deliberate effort to bring our seven organizations (and the thousands of therapists they represent) into alignment. That means:
One shared practice framework to define who we are.
Standards of Practice will need to be created from the framework.
Unified education and licensing standards across states based on the Model Practice Act that will need to be updated after we have the Practice Framework
A joint approach to continuing competence, not just CE hours.
Collaborative advocacy to separate massage from illicit businesses.
Healthcare Integration is of course a dual edged sword because of our current healthcare system but it is what we have and being a part of it can help people get the care that they need for pain and injuries.
Without a nexus, we remain seven voices speaking past each other in our silos which reminds me of the TV series Silo (based on Hugh Howey’s Wool) which tells the story of a society trapped underground, cut off from truth, with each department functioning in isolation and history erased. The system works—until one person dares to challenge the status quo and begins waking the silo’s residents up to reality. The massage therapy profession has its own “silos”: seven national organizations, each guarding its own corner instead of working together. Like in the show, progress won’t come from silence or separation—it will come when individuals step forward to question the system, spark connection, and help the profession see the bigger picture.
