Intelligently-Designing the Human

[Giant Blue Anteater]

Here's a fun thought exercise we could all do.

Let's show them creationists who believe their god was drunk enough to create something as flawed as the anatomy of life on this planet, by showing them what an intelligently-designed human would actually look like!

For one, I think the intelligent designer would separate the trachea from the esophagus to prevent choking. Another thing he or she would do is have the reproductive organs on the belly rather than the urogenital region to stop the needlessly excruciating pain in childbirth caused by the narrow hips of which allowed humans to stand up. Lots of more tweaks in the human anatomy could be done in order to get closer to achieving perfection. What else could be done?

 

[borrofburi]

I've thought about this alot but I can't remember much. Mostly I spend a lot of time going "intelligent design my ass, look at this incredibyl stupid evolutionary result..." but I don't remember any of those either. It's much easier to point out flaws in a design than to come up with a better one though...

 

[xman]

Men don't need nipples either.

 

[Squawk]

Waste disposal area through the middle of the recreation zone.

Eyes in the back of your head

Need to sleep

And the beat goes on...

 

[ImprobableJoe]

Here's what a Biblical creation-based human being would look like:

Life on Earth would be just like 3-D cartoons. Forget better organs, why have organs AT ALL? The more complex life is seen to be, the less likely it is to have been created. When we consider something to be well-designed, it is generally a simpler design than previous models. Every extra part or process adds an extra level of inefficiency. Does "God" have internal organs?

 

[Giant Blue Anteater]

When we consider something to be well-designed, it is generally a simpler design than previous models. Every extra part or process adds an extra level of inefficiency. Does "God" have internal organs?

Good point. It is indeed almost impossible to conceive a perfectly-designed human. Even if we look at obvious flaws like the trachea being conjoined to the oral passageway, there are still many flaws left.

For that matter, it is almost impossible to conceive anything intelligently designed. Nothing in this Universe is perfect at all!

 

[DontHurtTheIntersect]

Oh, where to begin...

not requiring waste extraction
make skin more dexterous
make bones less fragile
more resistance to bacteria and disease
basically make humans less susceptible to death
don't have bodies that deteriorate over time
eliminate genetic deformities and disorders
make sex MUCH more enjoyable
make childbirth less painful, if not painless

and the list goes on and on.

Way to go, God. You sure know how to make us.

 

[xman]

Secondary opposable digits where the little finger is, that's two thumbs on each hand!

 

[Aught3]

No extra semi-removable skin on the penis so we don't have to listen to debates about circumcision.

A better deal on menstruation.

 

[Josan]

Come on guys... don't you have any fantasy? This designer is supposed to be allmighty!

We should be:

- Indestructible
- Able to turn invisible
- Shoot lasers from our eyes
- We should be omnipotent (if he can be, why can't we?)
- Teleportation
- Telepathy
- Levitation
- Real magic!
- And the list goes on

And let's not forget the most important part of a truly intelligently-designed human, the ability to turn water into beer. That's right, Midas' Touch 2.0

 

[Squawk]

how about being solar powered?

 

[Nashy19]

All of the senses are limited.

If gods perfect then we must be perfect for our purpose, what does that say about our purpose :geek:

 

[nasher168]

We should be more peaceful like bonobos.
If we are God's perfect creation, then we should be a bit more likeable.

 

[borrofburi]

not requiring waste extraction
make skin more dexterous
make bones less fragile
more resistance to bacteria and disease
basically make humans less susceptible to death
don't have bodies that deteriorate over time
eliminate genetic deformities and disorders
make sex MUCH more enjoyable
make childbirth less painful, if not painless

Those have drawbacks, I'll highlight the worst one:
Bones less fragile? How? We have people who get indestructible bones, they take on extra calcium and become more dense. It's known as a disease because the body doesn't function properly. I have, however, thought that perhaps our bones could have a more honey-comb like structure possibly leading to more strength with less weight.

Not requiring waste disposal? Where does it go, magic fairy land? Fact is that we'll eat things we don't need and can't use, and those have to go somewhere.

Decaying over time is evidence of lack of intelligent design, all we need is a good protein or set of proteins to fix DNA errors, it should be trivial for an intelligent designer.

 

[Fullmetalgeneticist]

The ability to digest cellulose... Why must Bacteria have all the fun?

It seems like what we have there is an amazing superpower that humans seem to lack.

 

[DeistPaladin]

Men don't need nipples either.

I don't know. I think they can be fun.

Although I will say they are proof that men are variations on the female model, not the other way around as the Bible says.

 

[xman]

Men don't need nipples either.

I don't know. I think they can be fun.

optional nipples then.

 

[MRaverz]

To exist in the current system we have, a species requires flaws to ensure that it does not out-compete those around it in a way which would inhibit it's own development. For example, the 'perfect' predator would be amazing at hunting down it's prey - so amazing that it would run out of prey and starve to death.

Species and environment need to work in harmony with each other, you cannot have a perfect system and a perfect species to inhabit it but you can have a perfect system and a species which occupies a perfect position in it.

Thing is, this would happen with or without a designer because if the system was not harmonious (and therefore not 'perfect') it would destroy itself.

 

[EvilLiberal]

To exist in the current system we have, a species requires flaws to ensure that it does not out-compete those around it in a way which would inhibit it's own development. For example, the 'perfect' predator would be amazing at hunting down it's prey - so amazing that it would run out of prey and starve to death.

Species and environment need to work in harmony with each other, you cannot have a perfect system and a perfect species to inhabit it but you can have a perfect system and a species which occupies a perfect position in it.

Thing is, this would happen with or without a designer because if the system was not harmonious (and therefore not 'perfect') it would destroy itself.

This does not apply to intelligent beings, able to create their own systems, such as agriculture, which can be expanded at the same rate as the population.

Getting back to the original question, I think that more advanced sense organs would be a must. We have little to no perception of pheromones, we have a blind spot, we can't see in the dark, we have to sniff or partially ingest substances to detect chemicals in them, and even then we can't detect a vast number of chemicals which are lethal to us, we have exceedingly limited hearing etc. None of these are exactly difficult design problems to solve, but doing so would add volumes (and probably years) to the human experience.

 

[MRaverz]

This does not apply to intelligent beings, able to create their own systems, such as agriculture, which can be expanded at the same rate as the population.

Getting back to the original question, I think that more advanced sense organs would be a must. We have little to no perception of pheromones, we have a blind spot, we can't see in the dark, we have to sniff or partially ingest substances to detect chemicals in them, and even then we can't detect a vast number of chemicals which are lethal to us, we have exceedingly limited hearing etc. None of these are exactly difficult design problems to solve, but doing so would add volumes (and probably years) to the human experience.

We, as humans, merely alter our environments yet will still be limited by the carrying capacity of the ecological system itself and are therefore bound by it's limiting factors. Eventually we're going to have a population too big and a food supply too small, that's inevitable.