# Human design flaws **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986 "2004-03-29T00:55:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/21 "2004-03-29T03:06:56Z")
There are countless genetic diseases and disorders that shouldn’t exist at all if the human race was designed by a benevolent creator. For instance, what about childhood muscular distrophy? How does it benefit any person in any way? The gene for it should never have entered the genome. Also tonsils. There’s still so proof that they accomplish anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/22 "2004-03-29T03:07:17Z")
Nerves and neural tissue don’t regenerate. Neither do complex structures like limbs or digits. The same with most of the internal organs. [A better list of flaws.](http://www.youdebate.com/cgi-bin/scarecrow/topic.cgi?forum=3&topic=833) The female reproductive system, I might add, could probably be better streamlined and refined, to be more user-friendly for it’s owner. (Meaning a woman herself, you cads.) We can’t digest cellulose. Finger and toenails, while being (barely) useful, can become ingrown or broken. Aging, itself, might merely be [a genetic flaw, that might even be correctable.](http://avsunxsvr.aeiveos.com/agethry/telomere/) Fairly weak sense of smell. No echolocation. (Some species’ would consider this as much a handicap as we would consider blindness.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/23 "2004-03-29T03:08:31Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > It seems rather poor engineering design to have the air intake system commingled with the food and water intake system. Granted, there are valves and such to keep things going where they’re supposed to go; even so, about 4,000 people choke to death in the United States every year. On the other hand, I would point out that the intake orifices (orifi?) are virus and bacteria magnets. If you have a separate orifice for breathing, you’ve got two Germ Superhighways in place of one. I would suggest that reducing the chance of infectious disease may outweigh the chances of choking. Now, on the other hand, why don’t we have X-ray vision and frickin’ laser beams attached to our heads? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/24 "2004-03-29T03:14:23Z")
I think we should redesign that whole digestive thing to only store the calories that we need to be healthy and discard the rest, not store them as fat. There is no good reason for cellulite. There’s also no logical reason for saggy boobs. The chest skin should be kept taught so that our boobs can remain perky until old age. 😃 [sub]Certainly I’m not an overweight middle-aged woman with cellulite and drooping boobs.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/25 "2004-03-29T03:17:47Z")
About a year ago, Scientific American produced a special publication devoted to humna evolution. At the end, was an article concerning how the human body would be designed if you were starting from scratch. I don’t know if it’s online or not, but it’s a good read. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/26 "2004-03-29T03:27:28Z")
> [@](#): > > There are countless genetic diseases and disorders that shouldn’t exist at all if the human race was designed by a benevolent creator. For instance, what about childhood muscular distrophy? How does it benefit any person in any way? The gene for it should never have entered the genome. That’s a fair sort of a strawman. I don’t think that anyone suggests that humans don’t suffer form diseases, and Christian religions view them as a sign of degeneration fomr the perfect ancestral human. They aren’t the legacy of a benevolent creator, they are the legacy of original sin. There is a world of difference between what are clearly corruption of the original design even from a scientific viewpoint, and things like the prosate gland that clearly designed to exusts in their current location. > [@](#): > > Also tonsils. There’s still so proof that they accomplish anything. There is incontovertible evidence that they are functional lymph-type glands that serve to both trap and destroy oral infective agents as well as serving as a point at which antibpodies may be developed to deal with novel infections. I don’t think any scientist or doctor believes they don’t accomplich anything do they? ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/27 "2004-03-29T03:30:12Z")
The playground and sewage outfall are too close together. I dont know how this got council approval. ps I realise some like to play in the sewer, and no doubt some people like just the two sets of teeth or a crook back. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/28 "2004-03-29T04:08:44Z")
our relatively huge cocks and boobies. blaring red bull’s eye were we to go about our everyday lives naked. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/29 "2004-03-29T04:22:33Z")
Sleep. What a waste of time. You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping. 😕 :mad: ← didn’t get enough sleep. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/30 "2004-03-29T04:38:11Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > More “generations” of teeth would be cool and feasible. Very rarely this happens naturally. I would prefer one set made of something that didn’t decay if you foolishly used your teeth to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/31 "2004-03-29T04:41:04Z")
I’d say allergies (as well as autoimmune disorders) represent a system without sufficient safeguards, reacting to mild stimuli with wild overcorrections. I hope somebody got fired over that. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/32 "2004-03-29T04:42:39Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > our relatively huge cocks and boobies. blaring red bull’s eye were we to go about our everyday lives naked. Au contraire, sir. My huge schlong is in fact the ultimate achievement in evolution, the very peak of the history of life on this planet. Four billion years of nature, red in tooth and claw, have led to my wang, the perfect and ultimate manifestation of life. My God, it’s full of stars… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/33 "2004-03-29T06:00:50Z")
Well, my nipples don’t work, there’s no zoom function, and just LOOK at these Polaroids! ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/34 "2004-03-29T06:22:16Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > The knee. Although it is a wonder of nature, because it helps us walk erect, it’s also a weak spot. Just ask any athlete. Can we make it bend a little more left and right and not require reconstructive surgery afterwards? Oh yes, I second on this one. I wish my knees weren’t as bad as they are. The right one will probably require surgery before the age of 25. Maybe the left one too…we’ll see. Better eyesight and hearing would also be a much-needed improvement. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/35 "2004-03-29T07:09:24Z")
General Questions is for questions with factual answers. There is no factual answer to your question. Moved to IMHO. Please read forum descriptions carefully before you make your next post. Thank you. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/36 "2004-03-29T07:43:38Z")
How about an extra pair of hands? Bigger clitoris for the female? Posted by **don’t ask** > [@](#): > > _I would prefer one set made of something that didn’t decay if you foolishly used your teeth to eat._ Agreed! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/37 "2004-03-29T08:35:47Z")
The heart simply shouldn’t be so easily cloggable. There should a device to remove cancer cells immediately from the body. I agree with many of the other points! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/38 "2004-03-29T11:01:40Z")
> [@owlofcreamcheese](#): > > someone will talk about the eye… at some point. parts of it make good sense, the whole backwards thing is because our eyes get direct sunlight unlike the squid that have a “better desgin”. its not smart, but I can stare at the sun for a while and still retain vision in general, if it was a once and your blind thing we would mostly all go blind in childhood or driveing. Possibly; this is in fact the common creationist response; that creatures like squid living in water don’t need the protection afforded by a backwards retina, whereas creatures living on land do. Of course this neatly ignores the fact that not all creatures in the sea have the better retina design (i.e. vertebrates such as fish and cetaceans) and that not all molluscs live in the water (snails, although their eyes are a lot simpler than those of squid). > [@](#): > > parts of the bad design is to make sure the eye lasts on the long term. I think it’s more likely that the bad design is the result of evolution having to work with what was already available - once you get a certain way down the road, going forward in a complex way is an easier step than going back and doing the whole thing more simply. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/39 "2004-03-29T12:17:33Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I’d say allergies (as well as autoimmune disorders) represent a system without sufficient safeguards, reacting to mild stimuli with wild overcorrections. I hope somebody got fired over that. If you had parasitic worms like you’re supposed to, you wouldn’t have these problems. > [@Rick Jay](#): > > On the other hand, I would point out that the intake orifices (orifi?) are virus and bacteria magnets. If you have a separate orifice for breathing, you’ve got two Germ Superhighways in place of one. I would suggest that reducing the chance of infectious disease may outweigh the chances of choking. In that case, I’d like a cloaca, please. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986/40 "2004-03-29T12:50:48Z")
TMI WARNING! As a woman I think it would be great if we could “hold in” our monthly bleedings the way we can with pee. Maybe there’s other fun things we could do with the extra muscle as well, though I guess the amount of extra strength needed to achieve this feat might worry the fellas. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-design-flaws/236986.md?page=3)