3 ms·
Just because some other organs are also evolutionary marvels doesn't mean the sphincter isn't one.
by selestify 5y ago
Just because some other organs are also evolutionary marvels doesn't mean the sphincter isn't one.
- slver 5y agoIt’s like going to a class of kids, narrowing down on the dumbest kid that’s consistently trouble and has a solid string of F-s and proclaiming “this child is a genius”. Maybe it is, compared to a cucumber, but your statement would still be awkward in comparison to the rest of the class. Pretty much everything that has evolved is intricate in ways we can’t even understand. When everything is a marvel equally, nothing is. But it’s not equal. Some things are more marvelous. So we call them a marvel. It’s how words work. Say, a green ball is also technically a red ball and blue ball. Nothing is perfectly green. But you still don’t call a brightly green ball a red ball. Because that’s how words work.
- selestify 5y agoTo say that the anus is not a marvel is to imply that it is a completely ordinary, expected development. The article explains why it's actually a fascinating piece of evolutionary work. Because that's how words work.
- slver 5y agoSo now being a "marvel" is a binary proposition. Either is something a marvel, or it's "completely ordinary, and expected". No, that's not how words work. Also, sphincters and valves have evolved countless ways independently in living organisms (and even in structures they build), and they're omnipresent also in the machines we create. Regulating flow in a pipeline (of any kind) is possibly one of the most basic adaptations you need in order to make a working system... of anything. So in fact... sphincters ARE completely ordinary and expected, if you ask me. And the anus is not special relative to other sphincters (and despite The Atlantic trying to be cute about it, they really don't support their headline in the article either).