Most problematic body parts in a human

[anotherfilthyape]

I would make a poll but I dont know which options would appear so I rather give an open question... For the expertsand the not so experts, which body parts are more problematic than they are useful? For example hands are very useful and rarely ever present problems (I use them every day and I have to give little thought to their care)... On the other hand I think the digestive system is full of crap and it has the additional problem that its entrance, the mouth, is hard to mantain hygienically well

[Fuzzwood]

The brain, it gets the rest of the body in all sorts of peril.

[Phi for All]

I'd have to say that the design of the spine for a bi-pedal creature is very problematic. It's not really as useful as it could be, and while I realize that we haven't been upright all that long in evolutionary terms, it's clearly something that causes more problems than positive uses. Balancing our skulls properly and being able to utilize our longer leg bones is not a good reason for all the back pain and diseases and injuries we're prone to by having our spine and spinal cord designed as it is.

[imatfaal]

The knees - lockable hinge joint, does an amazing job most of the time; unfo both of mine are buggered and I need to follow a strict regimen to avoid being crippled with pain whenever I exercise.

[anotherfilthyape]

The brain, it gets the rest of the body in all sorts of peril.

 

But the benefits do not outdo the problems it causes? I mean, we have conquered a lot of area just thanks to it...

 

I'd have to say that the design of the spine for a bi-pedal creature is very problematic. It's not really as useful as it could be, and while I realize that we haven't been upright all that long in evolutionary terms, it's clearly something that causes more problems than positive uses. Balancing our skulls properly and being able to utilize our longer leg bones is not a good reason for all the back pain and diseases and injuries we're prone to by having our spine and spinal cord designed as it is.

 

I see... So... Would be fare better as centaureans?

 

The knees - lockable hinge joint, does an amazing job most of the time; unfo both of mine are buggered and I need to follow a strict regimen to avoid being crippled with pain whenever I exercise.

 

That seems anecdotical qualms against the knee... As far as I know the system is used in the elbow too and in most verteberates and even in invertebrates, kind of... So... Is that fair criticism?

 

I am masking thequestion because I am wondering what advances would be convenient from a transhumanist viewpoint...

 

 

 

[zapatos]

The penis sometimes seems to cause more trouble than it is worth.

[iNow]

The appendix. Also, why is our main point of air intake so easily blocked off when we eat?

[zapatos]

Wisdom teeth. Ear hair. Little toe.

[iNow]

... how about how we have massive skulls as gestating infants, but the mothers birth canal is relatively tiny? Or how we can choke ourselves on our own umbilical cord.

[Joatmon]

According to this link the most common cause of death is heart disease. Combating heart problems must also be expensive. I personally have been kept reasonably fit since retiring almost 20 years ago with the help of a stent in one of my heart's arteries, the odd MRI scan now and again, 6 monthly checks at my GP's surgery and a handful of tablets twice a day. Well done the UK National Health Service, may it continue to succeed for some years yet!

 

edit: just reread the OP - unfortunately the heart is very useful so perhaps troublesome it may be but doesn't qualify for the list?

 

 

http://tlc.howstuffw...n-the-world.htm

Edited May 10, 2012 by Joatmon

[Phi for All]

I see... So... Would be fare better as centaureans?

Why? We'd still have the compression problems that vertebrae are prone to when stood on end. And I always wondered at the efficacy of having two spinal columns join at the forward centaurean pelvis. That would be a LOT of pressure on such critical areas.

 

The best design for compression would be something more like a jointed column, but that would create problems for the organs. I don't know, perhaps we just need longer arms so we can lean over to rest on them instead of sitting, taking pressure off the spine. But then the hands might grow to be less articulate, and then we'd be screwed.

[anotherfilthyape]

The penis sometimes seems to cause more trouble than it is worth.

 

you think? I love having one, it gets me a lot of kittens and I love kittens (I know, the word is not kitten, but I am censoring myself)

 

According to this link the most common cause of death is heart disease. Combating heart problems must also be expensive. I personally have been kept reasonably fit since retiring almost 20 years ago with the help of a stent in one of my heart's arteries, the odd MRI scan now and again, 6 monthly checks at my GP's surgery and a handful of tablets twice a day. Well done the UK National Health Service, may it continue to succeed for some years yet!

 

edit: just reread the OP - unfortunately the heart is very useful so perhaps troublesome it may be but doesn't qualify for the list?

 

http://tlc.howstuffw...n-the-world.htm

 

Well, it could still qualify, it depends on the overall balance between how good it is and how problematic it is... Thankfully modern technology allows you to live without a heart but I guess it still is worth it to keep one's heart until it fails and one needs to replace it with the pacemaker or, better said, the artificial heart or the axial flow pump or the centrifugal pump

 

Why? We'd still have the compression problems that vertebrae are prone to when stood on end. And I always wondered at the efficacy of having two spinal columns join at the forward centaurean pelvis. That would be a LOT of pressure on such critical areas.

 

The best design for compression would be something more like a jointed column, but that would create problems for the organs. I don't know, perhaps we just need longer arms so we can lean over to rest on them instead of sitting, taking pressure off the spine. But then the hands might grow to be less articulate, and then we'd be screwed.

 

Ok... I thought of centaureans because they are mostly quadruped... But I do not know much about biophysics that I guess is what matters here... But I am trying to get people into thinking what could be done to make human life easier so even if a jointed column would have its benefits, and having extra arms (a pair to take pressure off the spine and a pair to retain our articulate ability to grasp and manipulate objects) would give us benefits I'm trying to get people thinking into what can be possibly done to improve quality of life...

 

Wisdom teeth. Ear hair. Little toe.

 

I dont get much problem from the little toe but I do understand it is useless, maybe we wont lose it because we find it part of the natural and healthy look of the feet... Ear hair and nose hair on the other hand are things we could be bettwer without, and arse-line hair too... About wisdom teeth I agree they are very problematic... I would even accept genetic tampering to avoid it from forming, or an artificial jaw because as I said before the whole teeth system is pretty flawed.

 

 

 

 

[Phi for All]

Ok... I thought of centaureans because they are mostly quadruped... But I do not know much about biophysics that I guess is what matters here... But I am trying to get people into thinking what could be done to make human life easier so even if a jointed column would have its benefits, and having extra arms (a pair to take pressure off the spine and a pair to retain our articulate ability to grasp and manipulate objects) would give us benefits I'm trying to get people thinking into what can be possibly done to improve quality of life...

Actually, centaurs would be hexapeds, something that we just don't have among vertebrates. We have aquatic common ancestors, legs evolving from fins, arms evolving from legs. It would be highly unlikely for a mutation like another set of legs to turn up among humans. It's just too big a change in skeletal and muscle structure.

 

There's a big difference between current problematic human body parts and actually doing something to improve our physiology, especially something as tremendous as an extra set of limbs. I don't think our quality of life would be improved if we had four legs like a horse, or wings like a bird. They sound cool but such changes would create more problems than they'd be worth, and might possibly cause the things that really set us apart to wither.

 

And evolution doesn't cause traits like an extra set of limbs. Random processes cause them and evolution just helps them stay if they're useful.

[anotherfilthyape]

Actually, centaurs would be hexapeds, something that we just don't have among vertebrates. We have aquatic common ancestors, legs evolving from fins, arms evolving from legs. It would be highly unlikely for a mutation like another set of legs to turn up among humans. It's just too big a change in skeletal and muscle structure.

 

There's a big difference between current problematic human body parts and actually doing something to improve our physiology, especially something as tremendous as an extra set of limbs. I don't think our quality of life would be improved if we had four legs like a horse, or wings like a bird. They sound cool but such changes would create more problems than they'd be worth, and might possibly cause the things that really set us apart to wither.

 

And evolution doesn't cause traits like an extra set of limbs. Random processes cause them and evolution just helps them stay if they're useful.

 

Humans are biped because we stand on two legs, not because we have only two limbs, so cantaurs would be quadrupeds too, because they would stand on four legs and have two arms that are not used for locomotion... I did not propose wings like a bird... Nor I meant we had to let things to evlution, transhumanism is about taking the future wellfare of humanity in our own hands... We might not know enough about genetic manipulation to force the exterminion of wisdom teeth but we could develop implants to work better than teeth with less maintenance, among other things... couldn't we?

[Suxamethonium]

By ear hairs Im guessing not the ones we hear with

 

But both ear (and particularly nose) hairs are used as filters so we don't get dirt and stuff in them. Funnily enough, that is the job of ear wax and mucous as well- so I would say they are important.

 

I'ld say the belly button is a bit defunct tho.

[Phi for All]

We might not know enough about genetic manipulation to force the exterminion of wisdom teeth but we could develop implants to work better than teeth with less maintenance, among other things... couldn't we?

Rewiring genetic code may be ultimately more practical than implants for some aspects. Actually, this brings up another problematic design in humans. Whenever we lose normal tissue, scar tissue forms to quicken recovery, something that helped us when we were at odds with other predators. But this means we can't regenerate lost limbs like a salamander, even though we have all the requisite genetics to do so.

 

In our present environment, it would be hugely advantageous to form the blastema salamanders use to cause cells to become pluripotent and regrow whatever was lost. Imagine getting hands back after amputation, or even regrowing organs lost to disease. The most profound affect would probably be getting new teeth whenever they're lost!

 

We're close to correcting this bit, according to some studies. Here's a good article on that: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/regeneration/

[anotherfilthyape]

By ear hairs Im guessing not the ones we hear with

 

But both ear (and particularly nose) hairs are used as filters so we don't get dirt and stuff in them. Funnily enough, that is the job of ear wax and mucous as well- so I would say they are important.

 

I'ld say the belly button is a bit defunct tho.

 

Yep you only said ear hairs, but it made me think about hairs in other places... we do need filters but I wonder how useful is hair as a filter in relation to the problems it causes...

 

Rewiring genetic code may be ultimately more practical than implants for some aspects. Actually, this brings up another problematic design in humans. Whenever we lose normal tissue, scar tissue forms to quicken recovery, something that helped us when we were at odds with other predators. But this means we can't regenerate lost limbs like a salamander, even though we have all the requisite genetics to do so.

 

In our present environment, it would be hugely advantageous to form the blastema salamanders use to cause cells to become pluripotent and regrow whatever was lost. Imagine getting hands back after amputation, or even regrowing organs lost to disease. The most profound affect would probably be getting new teeth whenever they're lost!

 

We're close to correcting this bit, according to some studies. Here's a good article on that: http://www.wired.com...7/regeneration/

 

I thought you meant the rewriting of the genetic code was being achieved, but achieving regeneration is cool too... But I bet it will be a flawed technique for a time, with patients going through cancer... And this should be controlled because the problem with wisdom teeth is that we get too many teeth, let alone if we regrow milk teeth too...

[ewmon]

#1 BRAIN — mental illnesses, headaches, stress, tension, fatigue (regular fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc), "making mistakes", etc.

 

It's probably what REALLY distinguishes us from the animals.

Edited May 11, 2012 by ewmon

[anotherfilthyape]

#1 BRAIN — mental illnesses, headaches, stress, tension, fatigue (regular fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc), "making mistakes", etc.

 

It's probably what REALLY distinguishes us from the animals.

 

But consider how often the brain gives much more benefits that it gives these problems! Our modern lifestyle so resistant to nature is thanks to the brain... and mental illnesses are the minorit y of the population, headache, stress, tension, fatigue and mistakes are a small problem against all the benefits the brain causes... don't ya think?

[zapatos]

you think? I love having one, it gets me a lot of kittens and I love kittens (I know, the word is not kitten, but I am censoring myself)

Yes, that is the part that makes it worth it. But let's see if we can come up with some trouble the penis causes.

 

Its tendency to wander has probably broken up more relationships than anything else.

It shrinks in cold water.

They are always trying to get young girls in trouble.

Their little brains seem to get the big brain to stop functioning whenever a cute girl is around.

They only think for the moment, not what comes after that moment.

Thanks to the penis, any pretty girl in any bar in the world can get any guy to open his wallet and buy her a drink.

It causes polite young men to act like jackasses by sticking their head out the car window and yelling 'Woo Hoo', 'Hey Baby', and 'Wanna Ride?'.

It causes guys to roll around on the ground fighting to prove that they are more appealing than the other guy.

It makes young men willing to pick up a gun and kill other young men.

It gets upset if it is referred to as 'average' or less.

 

By ear hairs Im guessing not the ones we hear with

No, I'm talking about the ones that decide to grow like weeds to make up for the hair that quits growing on top of the head.

[anotherfilthyape]

Yes, that is the part that makes it worth it. But let's see if we can come up with some trouble the penis causes.

 

Its tendency to wander has probably broken up more relationships than anything else.

It shrinks in cold water.

They are always trying to get young girls in trouble.

Their little brains seem to get the big brain to stop functioning whenever a cute girl is around.

They only think for the moment, not what comes after that moment.

Thanks to the penis, any pretty girl in any bar in the world can get any guy to open his wallet and buy her a drink.

It causes polite young men to act like jackasses by sticking their head out the car window and yelling 'Woo Hoo', 'Hey Baby', and 'Wanna Ride?'.

It causes guys to roll around on the ground fighting to prove that they are more appealing than the other guy.

It makes young men willing to pick up a gun and kill other young men.

It gets upset if it is referred to as 'average' or less.

 

that's not the penis but society and testosterone

 

No, I'm talking about the ones that decide to grow like weeds to make up for the hair that quits growing on top of the head.

 

they are not much problem in the ear, in the arseline they are worse...

[sammy7]

small intestine hands down, poor digestion-less absorption-less amino acids/fats, water soluble vitamins (b"s), fat solubles (adek), minerals less cofactors for enzymes/less amino acids for neurotransmitters, less fats for nervous system cells etc etc nasty nasty downhill slide...