Everyone is more or less familiar with the various forms of creationism today, Christianity, Islam, and Intelligent Design, despite the fact that most advocators of Intelligent Design claim it to be a scientific theory just like evolution (although, it’s far from it). However, what most people are not familiar with is how fragile, and imperfect, albeit complex, we actually are.
Now, I don’t mean to attack religion or faith. They had their place in society, culture, and history, and maybe they still do, that is a topic for another post. No, I merely wish to shed some light on the subject of human design.
Working on my second year of medical school, and having scratched the tip of the iceberg with regards to human anatomy and physiology, especially now studying neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, I’ve come to realize, even moreso, how imperfect we are built, and not only that, but how many unconscience mechanisms are in place controlling our thoughts and actions. Makes you wonder if there really is such a thing as free will.
Countless examples in human anatomy show how poorly we really are built. Maybe the first example that pops into my mind when thinking about this is hernias, or in other words, when things in your body end up someplace else, where they normally wouldn’t or shouldn’t be. Hernias can happen almost anywhere, especially between the cavities of the thorax and abdomen, through the diaphragm. What about the blind spot of the eye? Or the lousy back support we have (as a result of evolving from animals that walk on four legs, to animals that walk on two)? The list goes on.
Looking at human physiology, especially neurophysiology, also opened my eyes to this topic. The brain alone is highly complex, and still somewhat of a mystery. But, we know there are several parts which control how we think, act, and live, that we are not even conscience of. One example that really stuck in my head is the chotomic and non-chotomic mechanisms of eye fixation. When we look with our eyes, the chotomic mechanism controls the way our eyes look for a subject to focus on, while non-chotomic fixation allows our eyes to focus on a subject once found. A problem in one of these mechanisms, and you lose the ability to either focus on a subject, or to look away after focusing on a subject (this person has to literally cover their eyes to break the focus,).
Don’t get me wrong, the body is an incredible machine, its structure and physiology are highly complex, and truly amazing. All of the structures and mechanisms are not even fully understood yet. But, just like anything else, there are flaws, and it is not something to forget.
And don’t take my word for it either, search the internet, or library, and find several articles, books, and posts on this very topic.
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