Taking a shower always makes my mind go into random-words mode, and recently this allowed a question to emerge which is simply stupefying in its significance: why do males have nipples?
Even after toweling down I could not remember the necessary information to answer this question, although I must have heard it during biology classes.
To the batmobile! start the search engines!
First check: all mammal males, except monotremes, have them. And thankfully science has an explanation why this is the case – the default setting is that characteristics are the same between sexes: that means no male/female versions of lung, stomach and so on. Fetuses of both sexes develop indistinguishably (and, as it is, be-nippled), until different hormones kick in. As nipples pose no obvious disadvantage to an individual, selection did not weed them out.
Still not quite sure if I learned all that in school, but at least now I know.
Annoyed was I when, searching using the terms “nipple evolution”, some highly-ranked search results lead to pages that concern themselves with how nipples fit into the whole creationism vs. evolution drama. I visited one of these pages and must say: <sarcasm> impressive how serious creationists take their science.</sarcasm>
Just one example from http://creation.com/vestigial-organs-what-do-they-prove
Sentence 5: “However the particles-to-people evolution model needs to find examples of nascent organs, i.e. those which are increasing in complexity.”
This sentence sounds like a challenge, so let me mention Exhibit A.
Unlike other, more patient people who read the whole thing and even took the time to annotate and add citations I didn’t bother to read the remaining text – as a writer who omits crucial and well-researched information most likely has an agenda which I am not interested in.
Great entry! Thanks for that :)
The creationists are just silly. I’m hoping that their delusion stops as their energy – to come up with square pegs that fit round holes – decreases.
Their existence though is a great example on how we can be programmed to believe something so strongly such that we try to bend the world around us, even through great hardship.
Actually, I think the process is that when someone does this, incredible doubts are raised, but then pushed away with “one must stay true to god” etc. The extreme mind fuck endured by such an individual must be baffling to behold. (It is, I once had the “pleasure” of watching it myself… sadly with a negative outcome)
Glad you like it!
And yes, it truly seems to be hard (and often impossible) to let go of dogmas one has heard again and again. And all the more baffling how people are willing to harm and kill others because of these dogmas. Shouldn’t common sense, or empathy, kick in at some point?… it’s sad.
Also I feel sad for the person you watched struggling with reason vs. belief, and losing the battle.
Maybe looking at pictures of monotremes will cheer me up now.