Oh, I agree. This is why I said it's evidence that we weren't designed by some creator. A creator would've made the larynx nerve take the most direct route. Ask any engineer how they would have designed it, and they'd tell you the same thing.
It works so it is. Birds piss and shit and fuck all in the same hole, so I guess we are a step above birds...though as a friend pointed out some humans do that tooo.....
The thing is though, you have christian fundamentalists going around saying animals are designed so good that it's evidence of god. This shows that animal bodies have many flaws as well as strengths, just like you;d expect from something that came together partially through chance.
Think of it as a bar soda gun. It can dispense soda or water. Is efficent, why make 2 dispenser guns when 1 will do?
I understand where you're coming from. But don't you think it's very well possible that the Larynx in a giraffe may be designed in a way which is beneficial to the giraffe, but we humans haven't discovered the reasoning yet ? Just saying. I mean, it's not uncommon for scientists to change opinions or uncover new research
It's a remnant of evolution.. it is the same in pretty much all animals because when life was still in the fish/amphibian stage it didn't have much of a neck. When there was no neck, the nerve was a straight shot.. but still behind the artery. As the neck evolved, there were obviously no mutations that put the nerve in front of the artery, so one or the other had to lengthen and it ended up being the nerve. It does the same in you and me as it does giraffes.. its not beneficial, but it doesn't hinder us seeing as nerve impulses travel at light speed or near it. That's why the designer theory typically fails.. because there are many evolutionary remnants like that. That's if you're following the "designed as is" belief and not the idea that some 'thing' designed it to evolve on it's own.
there is no such thing as a "poor" trait. Its only a matter of survival. If urinating out if sex glands caused widespread infections and killed everyone, we wouldn't have it -yuri
Yeah, you're right.. kind of threw that together while on a whim, but always thought that nerve signals were a lot faster than what they are. Looking at the numbers.. it's like a sliver of the speed of light. Still fast enough to where it doesn't hinder a giraffe, but pretty measly actually when comparing the speeds.
Yea i was stunned too when i learned it. Like some of the big dinos without myelinated nerves, you could step on their tail and they wouldnt know for a few seconds (off the top of my head)
Not really. Scientists can explain why it's like that. The nerve started evolving in creatures like fish. It went straight from the brain to the larynx organ. As it evolved over time, a neck started to develop, and the nerve went right along with it. A small detour, but pointless nonetheless. It then passed to other animals like those of the giraffe's distant ancestors. As the neck slowly grew longer over the generations, the nerve never really needed to reroute itself(not that it had a choice in the matter.) Richard Dawkins explains it much better, but I can't seem to find the youtube video. Edit: Here it is. Fascinating shit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1a1Ek-HD0
you shouldn't be questioning god but thanking him. he very well could have put said sex organs in our butt holes. just sayin....
But then that'd just be normal and wouldn't be looked at as weird...and to have ass sex you'd take the sex organs out the butt instead of in...wwooaahhh