My meager education in biology and evolution gave me the mistaken impression that evolution optimized everything. But it didn't.
One example is the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). It goes from behind your ear, loops down below your aorta, and then back up to the voice-box
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As our fish-like ancestors evolved, developing necks, the nerve got stuck in its pathway. Evolution couldn't re-route the tangled wire without unplugging it It's sub-optimal design no engineer would ever make. It developed in tiny gradient steps, yielding only a local optimumExtreme example: The distance between a giraffe's brain and its voice box is only a few inches. Yet, its recurrent laryngeal nerve detour makes the nerve about 15 feet long. In some dinosaurs it may have been >90ft long This is decidedly un-intelligent design -it's evolution.
It was definitely kind of wild when I had the same realization evolution is mostly optimizing for good enough to not die and pass on genes, but beyond that it's whatever.Join the conversation
