(August 4, 2015 at 6:37 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote:(August 4, 2015 at 5:09 pm)Whateverist the White Wrote: Thanks, that is exactly what I had in mind, Morgan. (Had the wrong system of cables though.)
No prob. The recurrent laryngeal nerve is my favorite example of Stupid Design
Seems there are always differing views on the RLN "poor design" argument.
Forget the fact that the longer left RLN works in perfect harmony with the right, but the most logical reason is that the RLN design is due to developmental constraints. Eminent embryologist Professor Erich Blechschmidt wrote that the recurrent laryngeal nerve's seemingly poor design in adults is due to the "necessary consequences of developmental dynamics." 1
Living organisms must function to a high degree in order to thrive during every developmental stage. For this reason, adult anatomy can be understood only in the light of development
1. Blechschmidt, E. 2004. The Ontogenetic Basis of Human Anatomy: A Biodynamic Approach to Development from Conception to Birth. B. Freeman, transl. New York: North Atlantic Books, 188
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.
