(December 23, 2015 at 6:47 pm)Beccs Wrote:Ok, well if we agree it has a function, then why are you still calling it vestigial?(December 23, 2015 at 6:31 pm)AAA Wrote: It depends on what you mean by normal function. If you want to decrease your immune function go ahead. Genetic defects are caused largely by humans exposing ourselves to mutagens. We create harmful chemicals and ingest them. Then irresponsible people who smoke and drink have children and pass on the mutations from their germline cells. It is the ancestors' faults generally. There are actually amazing mechanisms to repair DNA, like photolyase enzymes.
You can call BS on that, but the fact is that the appendix was thought to be vestigial, but now functions are coming to light and are well known. So it is true.
Yes other species regenerate limbs. But other species also have wings, and some have six legs, some have bio-luminescence. Why don't we have every possible quality? I don't know, but that is a pretty silly reason to disbelieve in God. If we evolved, then why do we not keep the advantageous qualities such as the ability to breathe under water?
It isn't evil design, it has many regulatory mechanisms in place to prevent the genes from becoming corrupt, but our society seems to be doing everything possible to mutate ourselves. Maximal suffering is not in mind, I think you don't know how good we have it.
The appendix is vestigial and likely adapted in its function as humans evolved. Yes, it likely may serve a minor function in that it stores healthy bacteria and plays a part in the immune system. That is still being debated by medical researchers.
We likely shed our ability to breathe underwater because such a function was no longer needed as we spent more and more time out of the water and became a fully land based mammal. Why keep a function we would barely use?
And, I won't say that if we *were* designed then that design was evil. But it was certainly incompetent.
"Why keep a function we would barely use?" Why would we lose a function that we sometimes would use? I understand why we would lose our ability to breathe underwater, but it was more of a point to the other person who was wondering why we don't have the ability to restore limbs.
I don't think the design is incompetent, I think that people just say that because they think it makes them seem smarter, like they could do a better job. As though all the engineers who ever lived could have done a better job if they all got together.