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erronis

(24,038 posts)
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:17 PM Saturday

The human body isn't a masterpiece of design. It's a patchwork of evolutionary compromise

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-human-body-isnt-masterpiece-patchwork.html

The human body is often described as a marvel of "perfect design": elegant, efficient and finely tuned for its purpose. Yet, when we look closer, a rather different picture emerges.

Far from being a flawless machine, the body reads more like a patchwork of compromises shaped by millions of years of evolutionary tinkering. Evolution does not design structures from scratch. Rather, it modifies what already exists.

As a result, many aspects of human anatomy are just "good enough" solutions--functional, but far from perfect. Some of the most familiar medical problems and ailments arise directly from these inherited constraints.

The spine

The human spine tells this story best.

. . .


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3Hotdogs

(15,403 posts)
1. If it was a masterpiece or intelligently designed, I would have 4 arms so's I could open the door with my keys
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:32 PM
Saturday

while holding packages in my other two arms.

Centipedes get a hundred useful appendages while I get only 2 (4 if ya count my. feet). Da fuck?

Redleg

(6,967 posts)
5. LOL. I laugh because your example was exactly what happened to me yesterday
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:50 PM
Saturday

And worse, I was wearing sunglasses that I could not take off without putting down the groceries. With the sunglasses on, I couldn't really see the key hole and ended up dropping the keys. My daughter laughed and laughed as I cursed. Her hands were full too, so I couldn't blame her.

Ocelot II

(130,755 posts)
2. Knees are inherently defective; they are easily damaged and wear out quickly.
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:36 PM
Saturday

Also, we should have kept our tails and fur.

Ritabert

(2,481 posts)
3. My husband has hereditary hemochromatosis which was an evolutionary development
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:36 PM
Saturday

It protected some individuals from anemia when humans moved from hunter/gatherer culture to farming. Now however since everything has iron added to it (especially cereal) it becomes a problem leading to damage to various organs and is rarely tested for. Fairly common in Irish/Scottish and northern European descendants.

SCantiGOP

(14,732 posts)
6. Proof that it wasn't Intelligent Design:
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 06:45 PM
Saturday

Who would have designed a structure that had the playground located with the bathroom?

erronis

(24,038 posts)
8. Or that mystical designer had an "interesting" sense of humor.
Sat Apr 11, 2026, 06:49 PM
Saturday

That's my favorite interpretation of all the various deities and myths - a cosmic sense of humor.

hunter

(40,745 posts)
9. The cruel and capricious god of the creationists was on a real bender when he built man...
Mon Apr 13, 2026, 11:02 AM
11 hrs ago

... and was so hungover the next morning he couldn't get any work done and had to rest.

Modeling one's god after a misogynistic homophobic authoritarian anti-intellectual mean-drunk father was always a bad idea.

The only way to sustain such a religion is to hammer a child's natural curiosity out of them and raise them in ignorance.

Even then, some of them will rebel.




erronis

(24,038 posts)
10. Perfect: "Modeling one's god after a misogynistic homophobic authoritarian anti-intellectual mean-drunk father ..."
Mon Apr 13, 2026, 01:48 PM
9 hrs ago
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