The novel Human Errors begins with a simple story that may have been heard before. Behold the incredible beauty, complexity, and greatness of the human body. The deeper we go the more beauty can be found within the limitless levels of its complexity. It is astonishing how one can do anything in life without having to ever ponder about the devices behind it that grant us the ability to do these functions. We have heard about the bodies wonders and amazement countless times in our lives, which is why the author believes that there is no significance in writing another book about one that has been written many times before. This story is about our numerous imperfections from head to toe. These imperfections are not just captivating but as well as educational, and by investigating our imperfections it can aid us in learning about our history. Every imperfection in a book describes our evolutionary history.
Every cell, protein, bone, and DNA letter is a segment of natural selection over time that contributed to what we are now, but its not flawless. This not only highlights our history, but also our present and what’s to come. One can’t comprehend where we are currently if we don’t realize where we came from. Most of the design imperfections fit into one of these three categories. “1) Aspects of our design that evolved in a different world then the one that we now inhabit, 2) Incomplete adaptation, and 3) Human defects that are due to nothing more than the limits of evolution.” All species are stuck with the body that they posses and can only proceed by tiny changes that prevail sparsely and seldomly. In the novel, the author will address each category and the sets that share the same theme. Together a story is fabricated regarding how evolution operates, what appears when it doesn’t, and the fee humans have paid for these modifications over time. As strange as it sounds, “There is beauty within our imperfections,” said author Nathan Lents. The history of our imperfection is a conflict story by itself.
Pointless bones and other anatomical errors. The beauty of the body surpasses the scarce oddities within. Whereas there are also many oddities concealed in the anatomy. There are odd arrangements, inefficient designs, and defects. Most don’t affect one’s ability to live because if they did evolution would have adjusted them by now. Most rest impartial or unharming but those that haven’t and have affected us in unique ways is all a part our story. The human eye is an example about how evolution can produce a strange design. Inside the eye, functional problems have occured. Most humans need assistance by modern technology, glasses, because it is caused by the eyeball being to long. A design defect. Images focus more sharply before reaching the eye and then they fall out of focus by the time they land on the retina, which causes nearsightedness. If the eyeball is too short, or it can be related to age, progressive flexibility loss of the lense of the eye causes farsightedness. Even more possibilities can occur.
For example, cataracts, etc… Almost everyone is affected by something later on in their lives while for some its early onset. Scientists say that maybe eyesight wasn’t an important tool in the past because humans with poor vision may have been able to thrive like others. Even though we are the most evolved and complex species, we don’t have the beauty and complexity of eyesight like most animals, especially birds. Although, that’s just during the day. Our night vision is very poor as well. Cats, for example, are exemplary while ours aren’t even close to being as complex. We need more to connect and detect what is occurring around us compared to a cat. However, not just cats night vision is better than ours, multiple other species are more complex (Like dogs and birds). We have the ability to see more colors, but they can see more clearly at night. That’s another flaw, not all humans have colorvision, but most females don’t get that gene though because it’s a recessive gene on the x chromosome making it more common in males. These are functional problems of the eye though, there are more in the physical design that contribute to its defects.
One example of this is the retina that is backwards and the receptors are facing the wrong way (The author shares personal building experience to create an analogy for better understanding). This is adding more complexity to an already complex system and there is no way to fix this problem without having to completely start over. Again, scientists are unsure why it is this way. One more oddity within the human eye is in the middle of the retina and is called the optic disk. We have a blind spot in each eye which causes our brains to fill in the picture for us. This was named the optic disk blind spot. It is a conversion of nerves that all vertebrates have.
Nasal sinuses that drain upwards. Sinuses are very useful and helpful when it comes to survival because it is technically a humidifier/ filter for air we breath. Sinus passages keep our mucus flowing and it goes through the cavities (4) up to the brain and drains to the stomach because it is the safest place to put due to bacteria. When it becomes clogged it creates uncomfortable problems and/or more susceptible to infections and colds. We have it so bad (infections) because the mucus drainage system wasn’t well designed. One drainage tube was put at the top of the cavities and because of gravity it makes it more complicated to drain. For some, modern technology, surgery, needs to be used to relieve. In the past, smell was most important and was designed to optimize. On the other hand, when we evolved we relied on touch and sight more. This problem could also possibly be a side effect for making room for our big brains.
A “Run Away Nerve”. Nerves make the brain functional, brain to body or body to brain, and evolution has left us with bizarre defects in its system. For example, the laryngeal nerve is three times longer than it needs to be and it’s an important nerve that heart surgeons have to be aware of. Functional reason? No. There is also a superior laryngeal nerve that has the same problem. Why is it like this? It originated in fish and all modern vertebrates have it as well. Weaving the nerve therefore makes sense in a fishes anatomy but not ours.
Pains in the neck. The neck is a huge disaster and weakness. It’s unprotected, our trachea is exposed, we are prone to choking, the elevation of the voice box has made it possible for unique vocalizations; though the rise of it squishes the throat and swallowing is harder, and babies are even more susceptible to choking while other animals don’t have this problem because they don’t breath and eat through the same tube. All around, this makes everything tougher than it needs to be.
Moving around on two feet. An incomplete adaptation called human knee. The author used the words “Knuckle walkers”to describe this system because most walk on fours. These defects are all a result of the failure of complete adaptation. For example, our organs are held together by thin sheets. Sheets that are attached to the back of the abdominal cavity, which is what it’s like in apes (4 legged mammals), and causes problems for some. Although, evolution didn’t fix it because the problem wasn’t big enough or serious enough to fix. Another serious problem is the ACL, a big sports injury, that almost every sport can cause. It’s in the middle of the knee and is more common because upright posture forces it to endure more strain than originally designed. The achilles tendon as well works a lot and is put under continuous strain. Like the ACL, it is a frequent sports injury. The achilles is very important to us, but is also completely exposed. A mystery that most can’t figure out.
The back had to adjust. The back had to transmit body wait, change curve, and add bones so humans could stand on two legs. However, the sharp curve causes major lower back pain, especially for those standing constantly for their job. We do use all the bones in our back but, Nathan Lents described that evolution can duplicate bones when needed but its not good at getting rid of the ones that aren’t. Our wrists are more complicated than needed. There are eight bones tucked in like a pile of rocks. But if you took it out it wouldn’t work the way it is intended to. Our ankles suffer from the same thing but, with seven bones and bears more weight/strain. Another bone that bears no use towards us is the tailbone. The tailbone has no function whats so ever. It doesn’t protect anything. It’s just an area where a tail once could have been. Moving on to a list of useless bones. The upper arm contains one bone, lower arm, two bones and the legs are like the arms. Meanwhile, the hip twists better than the arms and holds less bones. Useless bones?
Needy diet. As humans, we need a diverse diet to get everything that’s needed. Humans have more dietary requirements than any other animal in the world. This is because the body fails to produce necessary nutrients. For example, vitamins. If we don’t have the necessary vitamins it can kill us and its necessary to cells to live. This can cause one to suffer if we don’t get it. In the past, the liver lost its ability for vitamin c production. A broken gene that is key for making vitamin c, but if its tried to be fixed it is more likely to harm it. Deficiencies can cause many problems to our body, but that’s only the most important vitamins. We are better at absorbing and extracting vitamins from foods, drinks, etc… Again, modern technology takes place nowadays in getting what we need or supplements for them. This rule of once a gene is broken it can’t be fixed, doesn’t apply to amino acids though. Acid Tests.
All organisms use twenty different amino acids to build proteins. As you can see, we have gotten lazy and instead of making them we eat food to supply us with these nutrients and amino acids that provides us with energy. Our body has lost the ability to make nine of twenty amino acids and has gained nothing from losing this ability. Although, it wasn’t changed because our diet makes up for it. Which, our diets make up for a lot of things. Fatty acids, amino acids, and minerals. Heavy metal machines. Minerals can’t be made by any organisms. It has to be obtained through eating. Since we get so much from food, it’s harder in less fortunate countries and people that are vegan, peleo, etc… Is this an evolutionary error? A failure to adapt? Many organisms don’t need a variety within their diet. As the author Nathan Lents says, “We are hardwired for obesity.” Our cravings can always get the best of us and our health can suffer because of it. We gain weight easily and losing it is difficult. This also is because of our metabolism.
A chunk in the genome. Why humans have as many broken genes as useful ones, why dna contains past virus carcasses, and more. We use all of our brain and can’t take something out without messing something else up. Dna is very different though. Unused dna, also called junk dna, in the genome contains no function. The ladder of dna that makes up the genome contains lots of rungs that are unusable, repetitive nonsense. If it’s not part of the gene sequence that gives one traits, it’s most likely doing nothing. Some extra dna can be harmful to us as well. Genetic diseases, mutations, and bad genes can be passed down, sometimes, by the parents and cause serious problems for the body. Others aren’t inherited.
Although, our genomes also endure viruses, not just diseases and mutations. The viruses are within our dna, as if its tangled in it, and waits for the perfect time to present itself. The genome of the virus, once inside the core dna, will be passed on continuously and it doesn’t need to work to spread. This continues to happen and happened in the past because we still carry the carcasses from the past. Shouldn’t natural selection get rid of harmful genetic information?
Reproduction. As humans, we are hardwired to want to pass on our genes. However, we are considered the worst reproducers because of the many flaws that occur in the process. For example, a our huge skulls make birth hard, fertility problems is very common in both men and women, and a woman’s pelvis has to be large enough for babies skull so it doesn’t increase possibility of death. Being born was a leading cause of death and giving birth was even more dangerous. Unlike in the past with to few of people, now we have to many. So maybe all of the difficulties of reproducing isn’t so bad?
Why God invented doctors, why a human’s immune system attacks their own bodies, why developmental errors can cause difficulties to our circulation, why cancer is inevitable, and more. When it comes to diseases, humans should blame themselves first and then nature because certain diseases are mostly due to the huge populations and the circumstances that come with it. For example, it can be due to us creating unsanitary conditions and we also have design flaws that can make us sick. What is meant by this is that our own immune systems seems to be constantly misfiring. When it isn’t mystankingly attacking our own cells, etc… it is overreacting to harmless proteins. There is no confirmed reason why it does this though. What causes allergies. Hygiene hypothesis. This sterilization of babies may be the reason that caused the production of allergies.
