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top 200 commentsshow all 277

[–]Deracination 60 points61 points ago

I actually have a list of human flaws I copied from somewhere. I can't verify or understand all of them all, but here it is:

  1. Female pelvis too small for the human baby's head making birth difficult and prone to perinatal injuries to the baby.

  2. Retinal arteries/veins lying on and in front of the retina of the eyes. Many causes of blindness come from this defective design.

  3. Wisdom teeth (already noted) with secondary abscesses, occasionally dissecting up into the cranium -> brain abscess, meningitis, epidural empyema.

  4. Larynx too highly placed, leading to common choking deaths.

  5. A bony projection, called the Odontoid Process, an extension of the C2 vertebral body lie a long finger, up to the end of the brainstem. It can easily fracture, especially in rheumatoid arthritis. That leads to death or paralysis of all extremities and inability to breathe without a mechanical ventilator. A simpler rotatory ball-socket joint would be better and safer.

  6. Semi-soft disc material between vertebrae and just anterior to the spinal cord, were suited well to quadrupeds. But in humans the upper body weight compresses these and can cause herniation's with mild to moderate trauma. There are 6 of these (none at C1-2) in the neck, 12 in the thoracic spine, 5 (rarely 6) in the Lumbar spine. That is 23 flaws or accidents waiting to happen.

  7. Hip joints perfectly suited to support human weight if there were four of them or 4 supporting limbs. In a biped, the stress causes extremely common hip degeneration, femoral neck fractures in women and older people. How often do you hear of that in a dog or horse?

  8. Knees similarly are not strong enough with the tibial cartilage in two legs for human weight, jumping down, and running. If we had 4 legs it would not be so bad. How often do you see cats with knee problems?

  9. Foot and ankle bones are badly designed. Most quadrupeds walk on their toes or the balls of the feet. This puts more weight on flexible tendons, ligaments and several bending joints spreading the stress. In the human food, we are walking on essentially our leg "wrists" and balls of the foot with an arch that is traumatized by walking and standing. When it falls it has an additional problem of severe foot pain. (see 10).

  10. In those fallen arches, the plantar nerves are badly placed. Instead of weaving between or over top of bones to their skin sensory receptors, these course "under" the ankle bones, under the arch to the metatarsal joints. When the arch slowly gives way it stretches those nerves and eventually compresses them. This never happens in dogs or cats.

  11. Human wrist must extend to provide maximum finger flexing; a major human task is to hold things in our hands. So the wrist flexes a thousand times a day. Problem is that the median nerve runs through a bony trough covered by tough ligaments, the Carpal Tunnel. With every wrist flexing the median nerve is pulled in and out of that canal. The canal is easily narrowed by minor injuries or repetitive use. The nerve is injured causing pain, finger numbness, and weakness in thumb opposition.

  12. The Elbow flexes and extends, but an important nerve, the Ulnar Nerve mostly motor to the muscles of the forearm and hand. It unfortunately does not go in front of the elbow in the safer soft tissue. It courses behind the elbow which is fine in horses, but human flex the arm at the elbow that pulls and stretches the ulnar nerve in a long course behind the elbow in an "ulnar groove" and additionally a human sitting often rest elbows on a table, and that compresses the ulnar nerve. Dogs and cats don't do that.

  13. The Brachial Plexus is a cluster of the nerves to the arm that travels through a triangle with the first rib being the bottom, the collar bone in front, and the scalene muscles behind. Also in the triangle is the brachial artery to supply blood to the arm. Poor posture, hanging by exercise bars from the hands, or throwing balls, cause the triangle to compress either or both structures. This is Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, the Neuronal form when the plexus is injured and vascular form when the brachial circulation is impaired.

  14. Female urinary opening (urethra), vagina, and rectum all located in a close row so that rectal infection of the urethra/bladder/kidneys, or the vagina is risky. The old joke is why is the recreational park located at the sewage outflow pipes?

  15. Appendix is a seemingly useless relic of evolution that often gets infected and ruptures in a life threatening peritonitis unless removed quickly. A few postulate that it might have bacterial that make certain vitamins. That is unproven.

  16. Large veins in the legs, progressively dilating from standing, walking, run the risk of blood clotting when the human sits for a period of time. These veins send those clots north to the heart's right ventricle and directly into the lungs causing pulmonary embolism (clots and lung infarction) that is often fatal.) Quadruped animals rarely die of this. Many humans do.

  17. Venous Cavernous Sinuses at the skull base on left and right are large draining veins from the brain. But inside of the vein there is the carotid artery taking blood into the brain, and several important nerves: III, IV, VI that control all eye movements, papillary diameter, and lens focusing, and V-1, V-2, and V-3 that supply sensation to the eye and face. This venous structure packed with these important structures is infected by sinus infection or pustules in or on the nose. Infection causes the blood to clot (thrombosis) that injures the nerves, makes the eye bulge and swell, and can cause spreading thrombosis into the brain which can be rapidly fatal.

  18. Other cranial sinuses such as the transverse are located next to the middle ear that frequently gets infected in kids. The infection spread to the venous sinus and causes thrombophlebitis, the major effect is increased fluid pressure in the brain, venous strokes, and seizures. If all of those venous drainage pipes were internally situated, there would not be such a risk. (17 and 18).

  19. Congenital birth defects caused by structures found only in primitive animals (but still in our genes): gills in our embryonic stage may have some left over at birth and a baby may have a partial gill (technically called a branchial cleft cyst.) These can cause pain as the person grows, or develop abscesses. Another is a chordoma, tumor composed of notochord tissue only otherwise found in ancient animals like Pikaea and Amphioxus. It preceded the evolution of the bony spine. We have one in our early embryo stages but absorb it. Sometime absorption is incomplete and notochord tissue grows (tumor) unfortunately in the clivus at the base of the brain.

  20. Our abdomen. It houses our stomach, our liver, our spleen, great vessels (aorta) small bowel, and colon. In quadrupeds it is underneath. An attacker cannot easily get to it. The predator has to attack the tougher back and spine. But in the human the belly is sticking out there for some clawed or toothed predator or knife wielding human criminal to take a swipe and eviscerate us.

[–]biggles7268 13 points14 points ago

Appendix is a seemingly useless relic of evolution that often gets infected and ruptures in a life threatening peritonitis unless removed quickly. A few postulate that it might have bacterial that make certain vitamins. That is unproven.

Science Daily link

ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2007) — Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a "safe house" for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.

[–]zweeback 5 points6 points ago

Hip joints perfectly suited to support human weight if there were four of them or 4 supporting limbs. In a biped, the stress causes extremely common hip degeneration, femoral neck fractures in women and older people. How often do you hear of that in a dog or horse?

FYI, hip dysplasia is incredibly common in dogs, particularly german sheppards. Bipedal movement is actually evolutionary progress, as it takes a significantly less amount of energy to walk than travel on all fours. Granted, humans don't run faster than most 4 legged creatures, but faster isn't necessarily better than efficiency.

Attenborough'd!

[–]pebohead 12 points13 points ago

You should say it is incredibly common in in-bred pure breeds. Mutts rarely are affected with problems caused by recessive genes.

[–]woopsifarted 6 points7 points ago

Great. Now I feel like if I move, I will die.

[–]jake314159 3 points4 points ago

And yet according to number 16 sitting will also kill you.

[–]mylarrito 0 points1 point ago

Which if it is common in wolves would have been a good point.

Dogs are a product of human labour.

[–]6roybatty6 0 points1 point ago

This is because dogs (as opposed to wolves) have an intelligent designer- specifically, a human one.

[–]bigdiggity 4 points5 points ago

God sounds like a dick

[–]Gobbagu 2 points3 points ago

I feel really weak after reading that.

[–]hoppyfrog 2 points3 points ago

Damned Creator. We should've evolved instead.

(Uhhh, does that count as irony or sarcasm?)

[–]custardnom 2 points3 points ago

What about balls? They shouldn't just be dangling there, unprotected.

[–]saiyamangz 1 point2 points ago

The ballsack actually lies outside of the body because body temperature is detrimental to your sperm - it has to be in a cooler environment to survive!

[–]custardnom 1 point2 points ago

They wouldn't need to be kept at a lower temperature if we were intelligently designed.

[–]SeanNam 0 points1 point ago

in other words, "design" of the sperms is flawed.

[–]Ryugi 1 point2 points ago

A lot of those have only been developed recently in us.

[–]Nacimota 1 point2 points ago

Retinal arteries/veins lying on and in front of the retina of the eyes. Many causes of blindness come from this defective design.

Not to mention a blind spot in each eye.

[–]koryface 0 points1 point ago

There is some trick where you can make a dot on a piece of paper disappear by positioning the blind spot over it, I think.

[–]Nacimota 1 point2 points ago

You certainly can. The latest xkcd comic demonstrates it actually: http://xkcd.com/1080/

[–]koryface 0 points1 point ago

How fitting, I had no idea.

[–]somedumbnewguy 1 point2 points ago

This is obviously all part of Adam and Eve's punishment for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Don't you people read the bible?

[–]captainhaddock 1 point2 points ago

Consider how prone the male prostate is to swelling, and the urethra goes right through it so you can't pee if that happens!

[–]seregygolovogo 0 points1 point ago

Some day we will be intelligently designed, I hope, by people like you and me.

[–]NeedAWittyName 0 points1 point ago

As someone with Osgood-Schlatter Disease, I can confirm that our knees suck.

[–]saiyamangz 0 points1 point ago

Wisdom teeth are actually for the highly likely event that we lose one or more of our molars, which allows the wisdom teeth to naturally drift forward and replace it. It's actually only with our shift towards improved oral health that that the need for wisdom teeth has reduced.

Interestingly, a more refined diet has been said to reduce the workload of jaw muscles and thus jaw growth, leading to less space in the mouth for wisdom teeth. You can see this in people with large jaws, who usually have plenty of space for wisdom teeth.

[–]NAproducer 160 points161 points ago

God: I also made them breath and eat through the same place so some of them will choke to death.

[–]Seriou 46 points47 points ago

It's funny as hell.

[–]Cartelman 8 points9 points ago

Torturing them for eternity if they are bad is hilarious.

[–]JakeCameraAction 11 points12 points ago

And guess where I put the most pleasurable area on the man?

[–]mwilkens 12 points13 points ago

It's in his ass.

[–]RaggedAngel 2 points3 points ago

...penis?

[–]Seriou 1 point2 points ago

Well maybe not if they're bad, that's boring. What if they don't agree with me..?

[–]Deezex 7 points8 points ago

Funny thing I just watched a documentation about the evolution of language. And in fact 200 thousand years ago our larynx moved down and gained the ability to speak but it was more likely for us to die of choking to death because the cartilage that closes our trachea while eating became less efficient.

TL;DR: Learning to speak made it more likely for us to choke to death.

P.S: Sorry for my bad english.

[–]NeuxSaed 1 point2 points ago

We made up for it by being able to use our awesome linguistic abilities to teach other people what the heimlich maneuver is.

[–]HeyFuckYouAsshole 5 points6 points ago

Sorry for my bad english.

Bad english language skills and a higher chance to choke to death.

I feel sorry for you.

[–]malicart 4 points5 points ago

Assuming you are a mute with no larynx makes this funny.

[–]builderb 82 points83 points ago

As a design engineer, it always irks me when I see this criticism, because I really don't think it's a very good one. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT taking the side of intelligent design, but this complaint that we eat and breathe through the same passageway is something people seem to parrot when mocking intelligent design. People use this joke to make fun of how intelligent design proponents don't think through their ideas, yet they themselves have not given this any deep thought. The human body is an insanely well-packaged design (developed through millions of years of evolution). In every design there are compromises, and in this case I think it's a good compromise to have eating and breathing using the same passageway. If you had two separate passageways for eating and breathing, you'd take up twice the volume, require extra muscles, nerves, support structures to have that, all to avoid the small chance of choking while eating (consider also the safeguard reflexes that are built-in to help prevent choking). In this case, the benefits of packaging and efficiency far outweigh the risks and I don't even see this as a valid criticism of either evolution or intelligent design.

When you start to parrot these things you end up just like the religious nuts who believe without thinking.

[–]zugunruh3 16 points17 points ago

Considering there are animals (some birds, dolphins, and snakes for example) that can swallow and breathe at the same time I think it's a fair criticism.

[–]flying-sheep 6 points7 points ago

umm, we have separated tubes for air and food, and separate mouth and nose cavities, so if only one opening would be connected to one tube, everything would work, and the space not longer needed by control muscle would easily house the additional part of tube.

[–]Mcgyvr 48 points49 points ago

Or... you know... God could have done something to avoid both problems with his ALL-POWER.

You know. Maybe.

[–]God__Here 10 points11 points ago

I could make it where people eat through their mouth and breathe near their asshole.

[–]MotherFuckinMontana 1 point2 points ago

or eat through mouth and breath through the...... nose....

[–]ziggybiggnutts 2 points3 points ago

See: sea cucumber.

[–]Wakasaki_Rocky 0 points1 point ago

But then we'd be smelling farts all day.

[–]Mcgyvr 0 points1 point ago

That would have been an even worse choice. Jesus, God, get your act together.

[–]builderb -3 points-2 points ago

Or, you know, God could have done something to avoid any problems.

But you could say the same of evolution. Why didn't creatures evolve that avoided both problems? Why, even after millions of years of evolution, countless iterations, did we still end up with compromises? It's because EVERYTHING consists of trade-offs one way or another. I think the saying "there's no free lunch" applies to this universe. Perhaps God could have created a universe free of trade-offs, but that's something far beyond my ability - or anyone's ability - to fathom. Whether it is through evolution or "intelligent design," there will never be a "perfect" design that you seem to be asking for. As soon you solve one problem, you'll create another. The most you can ask for is a best fit compromise.

[–]dietTwinkies 17 points18 points ago

Why didn't creatures evolve to avoid both problems?

There isn't an end goal to evolution. Organisms don't just keep getting upgraded to a better model until all the kinks get worked out. Sometimes unfit individuals get lucky and reproduce. Sometimes undesirable genetic mutations squeak by. These things are to be expected in evolution.

Sorry to pick on you here, but you really can't say the same thing about evolution as you can about god. There's a big difference between an omnipotent designer and the process of natural selection, and there's a big difference between what you expect to see in each scenario. In virtually every case, we see what you would expect to see if the guiding process were natural, not intelligently created.

[–]purplelobster 8 points9 points ago

I would also like to add that evolution can be seen as a type of stochastic optimization (in fact, there's a whole class of optimization algorithms inspired by evolution called "genetic algorithms"). The biggest problem with optimization is that you tend to get stuck in local optima. When you're stuck in a local optimum, there might be a global optima somewhere else, but reaching it would require way too many changes to be feasible. That's the case with the airway and eating, this might be a pretty good solution, but not the best. Getting to the best solution would just require an insane amount of random mutations. Consider also that most mutations are very bad, and don't lead to anything getting better.

[–]builderb 4 points5 points ago

Right, great point. There may be a better design, but something that is far different from what we see now, and may require restructuring the entire human body.

[–]MeloJelo 4 points5 points ago

Yes, and an all-powerful God should have no problem restructuring the human body. An unconscious "force" that results from statistical chances of survival based on an individual organism's overall fitness for its environment does not have the power to completely restructure an species from scratch.

[–]RabidHexley 1 point2 points ago

I think the point is; sure it's not bad in a general sense. In the sense that by random evolution we could be currently stuck with something not nearly as effective. But the fact that it's far from the optimal solution shows that there definitely wasn't any intelligent "thought" behind the solution's design.

I personally think the appendix and wisdom-teeth points are much better for this argument, though. Since they aren't even solutions, just useless remnants.

[–]TheOthin 30 points31 points ago

God is supposed to be all-powerful; evolution is not.

Could an omnipotent god pack all necessary features of the human body together properly without the risk of choking? Absolutely. We cannot hold the same expectation of evolution.

[–]Mcgyvr 0 points1 point ago

I think the argument clearly applies more to god, at least to gods are that described as all powerful.

[–]builderb 1 point2 points ago

As I said, perhaps an all powerful god can create a universe free of compromise, but that's something we can never comprehend, because as far as we are concerned, such a thing does not and cannot exist. We have no frame of reference for such a universe - no amount of logic or understanding of physics in this universe can be applied into understanding an imaginary universe where no compromise exists. We cannot fathom that.

If you're talking about this universe, there will always be compromises. It's like asking "why can't fish run fast?"

[–]Sit-Down_Comedian 0 points1 point ago

You could not say the same about evolution because evolution is not a consciousness like God is supposed to be. Evolution is random events occurring over time. You cannot say the same thing about evolution no matter how badly you want to. It's just flat wrong. It doesn't work that way. If it was a mistake, forgiven. If it was intentional, stop spreading this garbage.

[–]thedastardlyone 0 points1 point ago

I don't think you really understand the criticism. The fact that God had to make concessions for it to work, suggests he is not the almighty creator of the universe.

[–]builderb 0 points1 point ago

I think that was entirely my point. That the universe consists ONLY of compromises and concessions. When you solve one problem, another pops up. The "best" isn't actually "best" - just something that works most effectively in the situation. This criticism is a bit like asking why fish are such horrible tree-climbers.

Perhaps an all powerful god could have created a universe structured such that these concessions do not exist, but that would be beyond our comprehension.

[–]thedastardlyone 0 points1 point ago

Yes, that is the point. God bows to the current state of our universe. If Tom Arnold was the one to have designed the human body. I would shake that mans hand and tell him 'Great job!'. If you want me to believe that an all-powerful being created everything in the world and the perfection of the human body is the proof, I am going to spit in your coffee.

[–]Perforathor 3 points4 points ago

Spoken like a true engineer... "Yeah, let's leave that there, even though there are risks, it saves us work."

[–]builderb 2 points3 points ago

Haha, sorry but I'm not in management. I prefer R&D :D

[–]Omelet 3 points4 points ago

If you had two separate passageways for eating and breathing, you'd take up twice the volume, require extra muscles, nerves, support structures to have that, all to avoid the small chance of choking while eating (consider also the safeguard reflexes that are built-in to help prevent choking).

Ironic, because those safeguard reflexes (as well as the physical muscles which help us route air to lungs and food to stomach) are themselves costly. In a similar vein, we already have separate passageways for air and food, but for a short distance they are combined into the same tube, so you are very much exaggerating the additional cost that would be involved in having the two passageways be separated, as the actual passageways, muscles to control them, nerves, etc already exist and would just have to be slightly extended.

The way we are is likely worse-packaged than we would be if we found a way to separate the two passageways entirely, removing the need for muscles to regulate what goes where but adding an extra length of airway (an airway doesn't really need many muscles, since it doesn't need to "swallow" the air, it just needs to allow suction from the lungs to suck air from the other side, so airway would be very cheap).

Of course, this modification by itself would be problematic, since we use the tongue for both sound production (which should be connected to the airway) as well as taste sensitivity and help with swallowing (which needs to be connected to the foodway). Of course, there are much simpler means to allow for the modification of sound, and while they might not allow us to produce the same set of sounds that we actually ended up able to produce, a simple, biologically inexpensive sound modifier could allow us the same level of language capability while still keeping the overall modified design roughly as biologically inexpensive as our current packaging. And from this small set of modifications, we get a good number of benefits - we do not have to open our foodways except to eat, reducing the likelihood of catching airborne diseases, we can't choke, we can breathe while eating, allowing us to eat even in the middle of performing strenuous physical work that requires constant respiration, etc.

Evolution can't do any of that, however. Since we already have the means to communicate with language, it's nigh impossible we'll evolve a second means to, since it would be biologically costly and provide us with no benefit until other modifications are made. It thus could not survive and develop as an evolutionary trait on its own, or would be extremely unlikely to.

Likewise, it's quite unlikely we'd be able to evolve a separated airway passage. Assuming the airway went to the nose and the foodway to the mouth, we would no longer be very good at speech, so a mutation like this would be detrimental to survival and would die out.

But both modifications combined would create a being which is better designed than humans. Of course, even so, if both miraculously coincided, it probably still wouldn't survive, since the mutated individual would be capable of producing diverse sound, but not in the same way that existent humans actually do, and thus would be unlikely to be able to speak common languages, or attract friends and mates.

Evolution is good at making slight modifications to an existing design to allow better survival in a particular environment. It's not good at completely redesigning that design in order to optimize it. It throws together whatever positive modifications have come up over the course of evolutionary history, it does not design things specifically for a task. It just works with what it's got.

I'll end by noting that I'm speaking from a basic, amateur understanding of biology here, though I'm fairly certain I haven't misrepresented any major facts.

[–]Lord_of_hosts 5 points6 points ago

This is valid for designing with respect to constraints, which an omnipotent being wouldn't have. Still, there are better examples:

Optic nerve design -> unnecessary blind spots. Prostate that tends to fail. Spine that easily gets painful but non-fatal disc problems.

[–]Astrognome 1 point2 points ago

Also, if you have an extra spot for breathing, you would choke for sure if anything got in it.

[–]Omelet 0 points1 point ago

I can't ever recall a time when I almost choked on something that I breathed in through my nose.

But if it did come up, you could just not breathe it in, or if you started to breathe it in, you could stop breathing in and begin breathing out (i.e. coughing) in order to get it out of your lungs and/or airway.

[–]skates90 1 point2 points ago

I'm sorry, I wasn't aware an omnipotent being needs to compromise.

[–]elebrin 0 points1 point ago

Also think of the ways that disease can enter the body. The fewer holes for that the better. In fact, many species have a cloaca, or combination of genitals, urethra, and anus. One hole for in (mouth/nose), one hole for out.

[–]rockafella7 0 points1 point ago

Give Humans, Telepathy and Photosynthesis

Boom! Both problems solved.

[–]Szos 0 points1 point ago

Well THAT, and you can actually get some goddamn peace and quiet during dinner without the Little Lady yapping nonstop... since you know, she can't eat and breathe at the same time.

Amiright guys!

[–]Toxyoi 0 points1 point ago

I thought it was just a joke.
I enjoyed your comment though.

[–]riekondoh 0 points1 point ago

The fact that we are required to eat and breath in the first place is HIGHLY UNINTELLIGENT!!

[–]996097 0 points1 point ago

Well how about the argument for a digestive/respiratory system that you cant choke on, that's the core of the issue. If there were no choking then no one would bring up the fatal error of having the windpipe and the trachea merge.

[–]Airazz 0 points1 point ago

Dolphins have separate holes, yet they seem to be doing just fine. And they're mammals too, so it couldn't be that hard for god to come up with something similar...

[–]xzxzzx 0 points1 point ago

In this case, the benefits of packaging and efficiency far outweigh the risks

But for all but a small part of the throat, they are separate passageways. The cost to fully separate the nose and mouth would be almost negligible in terms of packaging and efficiency.

Further, you assume that breathing through the front of your head is the best design. What about having a hole at the top of your chest? Much less travel for the air would be required, you could eat and talk at the same time, your neck would not be so vulnerable, etc.

[–]BrainSlurper 2 points3 points ago

God: I also added a ball of flesh in the back of their throat that makes lots of noise when they sleep.

[–]young_atheist_man 1 point2 points ago

We also don't have ball joints on all appendages. So some of us crack our limbs or fingers or necks for no good reason.

[–]suspiciously_helpful 1 point2 points ago

Q: You know why God didn't cut it as a civil engineer?

A: He put sewage lines through a playground.

[–]xhephaestusx 0 points1 point ago

a much better point is that our retinas lie behind a wall of blood vessels, which severely inhibits our vision. birds of prey with exceptional vision do not have this particular disability.

[–]Paradoxius 0 points1 point ago

Ooh, and look at these things where their legs meet. Those are genitals. They are used for reproduction and stimulating them will be very pleasurable.

What's that hole right next to them for?

That's where their waste will be excreted from. From their genitals, too.

[–]hdyar 44 points45 points ago

Instantly remember this from Simon Rich's book Free Range Chickens. He also wrote Ant Farm, and both books are fantastic and hilarious.

[–]themostrad 2 points3 points ago

This should be up higher, the man is hilarious

[–]derpettasaurusrex 0 points1 point ago

I was just going to say that OP should give credit where credit is due. Rock on, hdyar.

[–]beware_of_hamsters -5 points-4 points ago

So, you instantly remembered the title of the book which just happens to already be printed on top of the picture?

Good job!

[–]malicart 15 points16 points ago

So you were a douche for no reason at all?

Good Job!

[–]rocketspeed 2 points3 points ago

Agreed. I hate how reddit says this all the time. "Instantly reminded me of exactly what it is! "

[–]andr0medam31 24 points25 points ago

Also add in spinal problems (from a 4-legged mammal evolving into a 2-legged, our spine takes a beating holding up our upper body), genetic disorders/diseases, cartilage (can't repair itself, just wears out over time), and our eyes having a blind spot because they were "built" backwards.

[–]RedAero 8 points9 points ago

The one that irritates me are the teeth... Why can't we just grow the continuously, like sharks? We get two sets, why not 3, or 4, or a fucking dozen?!

[–]newtonzero 14 points15 points ago

Cause this is already terrifying.

[–]HeyFuckYouAsshole 1 point2 points ago

Wow, what's the backstory on that?

[–]FurbyTime 7 points8 points ago

It's nothing more than a child's skull with a bisection at the jaw and upper mouth. That's what your teeth looked like inside your head.

Children are adorable, huh?

[–]flying-sheep 0 points1 point ago

wow, no wonder some people get it all crooked.

[–]McCrackenYouUp 7 points8 points ago

Wow. I was about to tell you that I definitely don't have a blind spot, but then I tried one of the simple blind spot tests online. Crazy.

[–]captainhaddock 1 point2 points ago

You've also got blood vessels crisscrossing your retina that you don't notice because your brain edits them out just like your blind spot.

[–]God__Here 0 points1 point ago

Bitch please, You are complaining about spinal problems by walking on two legs?

IN MY book of evolution it's an advantage

[–]iheartbakon 32 points33 points ago

Some scientists now believe the appendix does have a function: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiform_appendix#Possible_functions

[–]case-o-nuts 8 points9 points ago

I've never heard of anyone having serious health issues because their appendix was removed. I've heard of plenty who had issues because it wasn't removed soon enough.

If it has a function, it's not a very important one.

[–]dogandcatinlove 4 points5 points ago

It helps re-colonize your gut with good bacteria!

waving tiny bacteria flag

No one cares about us, appendix. No one appreciates us. :(

[–]Philo_T_Farnsworth 1 point2 points ago

If it has a function, it's not a very important one.

In a first world society with access to potable water, no it's not very important.

In a primitive society without clean water and being prone to diseases that will wreak havoc on your digestive system (i.e. dysentery)? Yeah the appendix becomes pretty fucking useful then because it can help repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria once the infection passes (or you die, in which case it's a non-issue).

For the majority of human existence the appendix was a useful organ.

[–]iheartbakon 4 points5 points ago

There are some organs we can live without and not have any adverse health effects (the gall bladder and tonsils for example) but it doesn't mean it doesn't have a function. Our current knowledge is just too limited to say with absolute certainty that the appendix is "vestigial" in nature.

It makes sense that the appendix would serve to repopulate gut flora especially when you consider what a severe bout of diarrhea can do to your flora. That may not seem evident in modern society because our food and water supply tends to be a lot safer than it was thousands of years ago.

[–]flying-sheep 2 points3 points ago

yes. also evolution repurposing stuff that lost its function happens on all levels all the time, and i guess this rather unimportant but sometimes useful function has prevented the appendix from vanishing.

[–]Lord_of_hosts 4 points5 points ago

Vestigial doesn't necessarily mean without function. Look up exaptation.

[–]EroticAssassin 0 points1 point ago

I've never heard of anyone having their appendix removed in utero, so whatever developmental role it has has already been served by the time it is removed.

As for any other long-term digestive issues, it'd be tough to do good studies on that and in high-income countries (or well-off areas in LMICs) with great sanitation (where I'm guessing almost all appendectomies are performed), the costs might be covered by hygiene/sanitation.

[–]thedastardlyone 0 points1 point ago

tell that to one (just one) of your kidneys. And then wave bye-bye to beer.

[–]Yuski 1 point2 points ago

I was just skimming the comments to see if someone provided that, good work. This picture is now obsolete, I wonder why it was even made considering even the older logic should suggest that the appendix at some point had a use.

[–]Sodfarm 0 points1 point ago

It doesn't change the fact that it's a non-essential organ that can kill you. While it may have some other functions, it's most notable feature is giving you appendicitis.

[–]Electrodyne 0 points1 point ago

Saferoom of the intestine.

[–]fox112 0 points1 point ago

I once read an article speculating that in ancient men it performed a function, but we evolved/the earth changed/science happened and we no longer have a need of it.

[–]MWozz -1 points0 points ago

This is the same link that was provided the last 2 times this picture was reposted.

[–]iheartbakon 6 points7 points ago

So?

[–]MWozz 2 points3 points ago

I was just commenting on the fact that this picture repeatedly gets upvoted even though there's evidence your appendix is sometimes useful.

It's not about you, sorry if that's how I came across.

[–]technetic 7 points8 points ago

They can't go outside for too long before their source of light starts to burn their skin, potentially leading to cancer.

[–]crazymuffin147 0 points1 point ago

Well that is particually the Caucasians who lived in the more temperate zones of central europe. But that's evolution so yeah

[–]SKREAM 6 points7 points ago

"Will fix in future patch"

[–]EricTboneJackson 5 points6 points ago

Not broad enough, IMO, to capture the absurdity of the notion that Earth life was designed.

ANGEL: Okay. What are these?
GOD: Teeth. They're for chewing up food.
ANGEL: "Food"?
GOD: Oh yeah. These creatures are bags of water fueled by chemical reactions. That have to constantly keep feeding the reaction new chemicals or they die.
ANGEL: "Die"?
GOD: Well, yeah, when the reaction stops I either bring them up here with us or send them to a torture chamber I just built.
ANGEL: Wait... what? Why? No, table that for a second: where do they get the chemicals they "chew up"?
GOD: It's called "eating", and I arranged for them to eat each other! A lot of the "animals" (that's what I call them) eat each other alive. It's excruciatingly painful!
ANGEL: "Pain"?
GOD: Oh yeah, hard to explain -- it took quite a leap of imagination for me to invent it -- but I arraigned for them to have a new class of suffering that we up here can't experience.
ANGEL: Why?!
GOD: Wait, you haven't heard the best part. I created microscopic creatures that are trying to eat the bigger animals from the inside out. I gave the animals an "immune system" which fights off those critters most of the time, but when that goes wrong, watch out!
ANGEL: How could it go wrong? You didn't make it perfect?
GOD: Oh no! There's all manner of things that go wrong with them! I sometimes have them born with agonizing deformities! And that's just for starters. The chemical reaction they call "life" is only sustainable in a tiny range of temperatures, so I stuck them on a rock in total vacuum -- utterly fatal to them -- and positioned it next to an open faced nuclear reactor. Some of the creatures boil to death, others freeze. They also pop and/or break and the slightest of physical insult. I made them super fragile. Do you want to hear all the fun ways they can die? Should just take a century or two.
ANGEL: Why not just make them like you made me?
GOD: Well, that's the thing: I wanted it to appear as if it occurred entirely as a consequence of unguided processes.
ANGEL: Ahh... that makes those other decisions make sense! But why make it look unguided?
GOD: Because I require that they accept my existence without evidence (fun side note: this requires them to ignore the reasoning faculties I gave them). That's how I decide who gets to become one of us and who gets tortured forever!

-- so on and so forth, ad infinitum --

[–]nxtm4n[!] 17 points18 points ago

Actually, the appendix was involved in the digestion of grass.

[–]Ass_face_twin 29 points30 points ago

It still has a function this day. It helps protect the helpfull bacteria in your small intestine and acts as a save haven. The best example of this is seen after a long period of taking antibiotics such as amoxicillin. It has as a side effect that it whipes out most of the bacteria in your bowls and causes diarrhea. Your appendix is not effected by the antibiotics since it's not in its direct path. After the antibiotics the bacteria spread from your appendix and helps restoring the balance.

[–]Deyona 8 points9 points ago

Yeah, appendixes are awesome, you can live without one but they are better to have. I don't get why everyone is hating on the appendix when they don't even know what it does. =/

[–]flippin22 8 points9 points ago

It gave me extreme pain on my birthday when I was 10, that kinda pissed me off. Appendicitis is a bitch.

[–]TommaClock 2 points3 points ago

Actually they are detrimental to human health in relatively clean environments. When your gut flora is destroyed by a regimen of antibiotics, you can easily acquire it from other people instead of your appendix. On the other hand appendicitis, cancer of the appendix and other woes can befall those with one.

[–]malicart 4 points5 points ago

Cancer of the anything sucks real bad.

[–]zodar 0 points1 point ago

you can easily acquire it from other people instead of your appendix

How does one do this? My gf needs some gut flora and has no appendix. How do I give her mine? I'd rather not resort to any one guy/one girl/one cup scenarios.

[–]norbertus 3 points4 points ago

She could have a fecal transplant. Maybe for your anniversary?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

This wasn't really understood until recently.

And the more I read about gene fossilization the more I think the items we have remaining are probably serving SOME use.

For example... I always thought my fingernails are kind of pointless.

But ... maybe they're preventing injury.

Without evolutionary pressure we would just lose them.

[–]Faltriwall 0 points1 point ago

Remember there are ~2 million proteins made by ~20,000 genes in the human body. So either each gene makes over 100 proteins (on average) or there are more genes than we think there are...

[–]norbertus 0 points1 point ago

Upvote! I was just going to post this

[–]MrCubeGuy 4 points5 points ago

Exactly the point. Most Christians believe that we were put on earth in our present form, so the appendix would seem really weid in their religion. This shows that if God really designed us not to eat grass, he was an idiot.

[–]rprebel 1 point2 points ago

Mmmm...edibles.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

This is correct the appendix used to be much larger thousands of years ago when we didn't know how to correctly prepare meat, like cavemen for example, but it has shrunken over time because it hasn't been used, BAM proof of evolution right there.

[–]SuperBeast4721 2 points3 points ago

So does it still work at all?

[–]nxtm4n[!] 12 points13 points ago

Dunno, I've never tried eating grass.

[–]qbxk 24 points25 points ago

i don't have an appendix, and i can confirm that digesting grass is difficult for me

[–]SuperBeast4721 3 points4 points ago

Will you do it for me? Please.

[–]nxtm4n[!] 8 points9 points ago

Short answer? No.

Long answer? Nnnnooooooooooo.

[–]JabbaWebb 0 points1 point ago

I thought it was for the digestion of raw meat? O.o hmm well that's changed my perspective on life.

[–]ncmentis 0 points1 point ago

Protein is one of the easiest things to digest. You can see in the complicated guts of herbivores how much developmental energy it takes to digest plant matter. Cows eat all their food twice, for instance.

[–]calderwright 2 points3 points ago

This kills the person

[–]DefinitelyRelephant 2 points3 points ago

Actually, there was something in the news a few weeks ago stating that studies suggest that the appendix is a storage repository for "backup bacteria" for your gut. That way if you get sick and all the microbes in your intestines die, you don't lose the ability to process food.

Evidently it was only required in certain environments - I forget exactly what kind, like a vitamin-deficient environment or something, that doesn't really exist today in developed nations.

[–]woobiedoobalicious 2 points3 points ago

Whenever you expect an answer to be "nothing" and instead the answer is "it explodes" it's a nice surprise.

[–]CONGRATS_GUY 2 points3 points ago

Congratulations Conc3pt! This submission (Intelligent Design) hit the Reddit front page on July 11, 2012 05:54 PM (California time). Your post hit the front page with 127 comments and a total score of 1035 (1785 upvotes, 750 downvotes).

Chicago Time: July 11, 2012 07:54 PM / New York Time: July 11, 2012 08:54 PM

[–]TheLivingBlasphemy 7 points8 points ago

God: oh also, they can't go without oxygen for more than 10 minutes.

[–]downtown_vancouver 11 points12 points ago

And they're like 80% water but I'm going to tell them I made them from dirt.

[–]bookzilla 2 points3 points ago

Wow, a whole ten? I'd heard four :o brb, holding breath.

[–]RavarSC 3 points4 points ago

4 is for brain damage, 10 is for death

[–]tbbrownah 3 points4 points ago

No, see, it's only that way because of Satan. He beat God at poker and won the privilege of screwing with God's "intelligent" design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_G9awnDCmg

[–]JimmyMac80 3 points4 points ago

How does an omniscient being lose at poker?

[–]zodar 2 points3 points ago

very carefully

[–]tbbrownah 0 points1 point ago

Did you watch the video? God might be omniscient, but he certainly doesn't strike me as being particularly intelligent.

[–]GendosBeard 1 point2 points ago

That pain is all too real...a month ago I had to get my appendix taken out. [sarcasm]Isn't God great?[/sarcasm]

[–]Dogtopias 1 point2 points ago

He also put our bollocks in a soft squishy bag. Why not inside the skull or rib cage.

[–]Pythagoras_the_Great 1 point2 points ago

Both the Appendix and wisdom teeth are part of the human body most likely because earlier species similar to humans depended on them. I believe the appendix was used to store unknown bacteria, in case the body was infected with it. EDIT: Actually the appendix stored gut flora, a more benign and helpful bacteria.

[–]Szos 1 point2 points ago

I am surprised I haven't read one of the biggest issues that can be made against the idea of Intelligent Design...

To paraphrase George Carlin: The fact that the love canal is situated right next to a sewage line. How intelligent is THAT?!?

[–]bitza 1 point2 points ago

In fairness, God works in mysterious ways....

[–]BanPearMig 1 point2 points ago

don't get me wrong, i don't really care for ID

but the example you use is quite stupid as it is believed the appendix actually does do something for us, some researchers think that it's sort of a re boot of your digestive system whenever you have an infection, and treat it with drugs that clean out your required bacteria in your GI tract

probably should have went with what NAproducer said

[–]kmoore 1 point2 points ago

Awesome - be really smug while ignoring the obvious fact that both God and evolution couldn't rely on dentists to keep all your teeth from falling out. That'll convince 'em!

[–]big-daddy-troy 1 point2 points ago

The appendix did have a useful function...

[–]wickedwarren 1 point2 points ago

I'm always that person, I hate being this person but. REPOSTS

[–]yellownumberfive 1 point2 points ago

What kind of of shitty civil engineer runs a sewage line through an entertainment complex?

[–]MrRandomSuperhero 1 point2 points ago

If intelligent design was real, why can't we reach the little itchy place on our backs!?

Athëists: 1

Christians: 0

[–]freeflowcauvery 1 point2 points ago

Sounds like a typical software development meeting.

[–]nmBookwyrm 1 point2 points ago

Why does the page say "free-range chickens" at the top?

[–]xsourdieselx 0 points1 point ago

Funny because my appendix has yet to explode whilst driving or walking down the street. Yet...

[–]I_Hate_Nerds 0 points1 point ago

Seems like this should go on for another 3 or 4 pages

[–]jtro 0 points1 point ago

The appendix most likely had a use before we evolved out of whatever its use was for. Also wisdom teeth were used for when we weren't likely to keep most of our teeth. They would be useful about halfway through our lives when the majority of our other teeth were gone.

[–]youngjheezy 0 points1 point ago

and the penis next to the anus is a problem for cleanliness

[–]JediMasterSam 0 points1 point ago

God is a dick redditor.

[–]morecowbell9 0 points1 point ago

But our hands were designed to perfectly fit a banana. Isn't god great?

[–]bplasma 0 points1 point ago

apparently cars came before humans.

[–]KingOTheCask 0 points1 point ago

Scumbag appendix. Serves no purpose in your body. Can kill you.

[–]BarackDrobama 0 points1 point ago

The appendix used to aid in the digesting of raw meats, hence why we no longer use it. Yes it has a use. In theory, you could train yourself to eat raw meats if you still have your appendix.

[–]lowertechnology 0 points1 point ago

Well played, r/atheism. Well played.

[–]buck45osu 0 points1 point ago

appendix is now known as a source for rebooting the stomach with needed bacteria that aid digestion. no longer needed in city society where you can pick it up from other people.

[–]Juandough 0 points1 point ago

My own version of Intelligent Design; God smites the species that get kicked off the island.

[–]MeEncanta -1 points0 points ago

Actually, the appendix was originally used for digesting cellulose (plant materials), but as people got more and more dependent on meat and less so on plants, the appendix became mostly non-functional and not required by the digestive system.

[–]Feldew 0 points1 point ago

The 'extra teeth' were originally necessary, taking the place of many teeth that were already missing at that age in human development. Appendixes more than likely also had a purpose before the 'civilization' of humanity. Fucking stupid pic. >.>

[–]cephalopod11 0 points1 point ago

God: I went ahead and put their entertainment complex right in the middle of the sewage processing facility, too. You know, to save space.

[–]beatles910 0 points1 point ago

Please allow me to play "devils advocate."

If the goal is to get to heaven, wouldn't god actually be doing us a favor by designing in these instant death mechanisms? I mean the goal isn't to live forever, it's to die. Right?

Thus one could make an argument that it would be crueler to have us live too long.

[–]rogue_ger 0 points1 point ago

God has his facts wrong. I recently read that the appendix is thought to serve as a "safe haven" for the intestinal microbiota during severe diarrhea. Once the episode is over, the microbiota can repopulate the gut.

Afraid I don't have a reference, but I'm sure it's out there.

[–]THyoungC 0 points1 point ago

God made cars and streets before he made man?

I've been lied to my whole life :(

[–]SKSmokes 0 points1 point ago

Wasn't there a hypothesis that said the purpose of the appendix was to jump start the human digestive system with helpful bacteria if it were ever drained for reasons such as cholera, however, it's not necessary anymore due to the fact that people get plenty of bacteria from day to day interactions with others? Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21153898/ns/health-health_care/t/scientists-may-have-found-appendixs-purpose/

[–]rokinlobster 0 points1 point ago

Sounds like something mr deity would say

[–]PsychedelicShitstorm 0 points1 point ago

I read this currently recovering from surgery for appendicitis and gangrene removal.

[–]DanaSaurusWreck 0 points1 point ago

Had my appendix removed, apparently it is use to store food for hibernation, like when we were more cave like.

Note: this could have been a hullicination from the drugs

Also note: I don't know if someone else stated this, the comments were too long for me to scroll

[–]CommanderShep 0 points1 point ago

The Appendix is a part of the lymphatic system and has a large amount of lymph nodes. So it's not useless

[–]MrDoubleE 0 points1 point ago

Scumbag God...

[–]trthorson 0 points1 point ago

not to be a buzzkill to fellow atheists, but your appendix actually is thought to help you out. it acts as an intestinal bacteria "storage" area. in the case of a bad viral or bacterial infection, you can essentially lose all of the helpful bacteria. however, APPENDIX TO THE RESCUE - it generally remains untouched, being a blind offshoot. akin to pigs' large cecums.

edit: that being said, fuck "intelligent design"

[–]Waldo199757 0 points1 point ago

the appendix actually has a use, it was recently found, google it, but im also an atheist

[–]bshamsul 0 points1 point ago

just because you don't understand them, doesn't make you smart, but you are a bit funny....every village should have one

[–]Chris8201 0 points1 point ago

God: I created man, the predominant intelligent life form on planet earth. You know, one of the bilions of habitable planets for carbon based life forms. Angel: Yes... God: The surface of the planet is covered with water for 71%, therefore man is a land creature. Angel: facepalm

[–]stillbatting1000 0 points1 point ago

I doubt anyone here cares... but according the creation story, humanity and the whole earth fell into death, chaos, sin, misery, malfunctions, etc. Again, YHWH did not create those flaws, they crept into our being when sin entered our being. Just to clarify; even though I've never known folks to desire to understand the things they love to hate. Anyway, hope that helps.

[–]Phenrock 0 points1 point ago

This is an interesting list of useless body parts:

http://www.bloggingwv.com/20-useless-body-parts-why-do-did-we-need-them/

[–]Hemligyo 0 points1 point ago

This is kinda irrelevant, but what font is this?

[–]novum_vipera 0 points1 point ago

Fun fact, the appendix actually serves as a source for replenishing gut bacteria after any particularly... explosive gastrointestinal illnesses.

Otherwise, guffaws all round sir.

[–]Owlsrule12 0 points1 point ago

Can't believe I never thought of or even heard this before.. Well done! This is especially good since many intelligent design supporters claim to be scientists proposing an alternate theory, so hopefully they should respond well to logic and reason, and satire.

[–]Lyndbergh 0 points1 point ago

I would like to point out that the appendix was originally used to digest raw meat. It is chalk full of a bunch of different bacteria used to do this. Since we now eat our meat cooked instead of raw, we normally don't need these bacteria, but the appendix is still there, and for good reason. When a person get's diarrhea for a long period of time, the inside wall of their intestines begins to deteriorate, and we loose all of the important bacteria that are in that lining which help us digest food. When this happens, the appendix will excrete a small amount of the bacteria it holds to help re-build the proper environment on the intestines. When food gets caught in the appendix by accident, the bacteria attacks the food, causing extreme swelling and, eventually, rupturing of the appedix (appendicitis). This not only causes extreme pain but also releases all of those bacteria into the body where they are not suposed to be.

[–]koavf 0 points1 point ago

Please stop posting text as images—it's against reddiquette.

[–]madsplatter -2 points-1 points ago

I laughed so hard that my neighbors complained to the landlord about the noise.

[–]confusedbrit 0 points1 point ago

The now show? Can't remember which radio 4 show this is from.

[–]cwumed 0 points1 point ago

The appendix looks like a bag? No.