WEBVTT - Evolutionary Hangover 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:14.400 Works dot com. Hey everybody, welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:18.560 your Mind. I'm Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.360 tell me, Julie, do you have a lot of stuff 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.400 in your house? Would you say you were a hoarder? Mm? 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:26.440 I don't know that I would say that I'm a hoarder. 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.840 But I do surprise myself when I opened the closets 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.600 and I think, oh my god, what is what is 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.440 all that stuff? Yeah, because it's like, you know, I mean, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.760 I don't feel like I'm that bad either. Um My 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:40.560 wife is a very good influence on me because she'll 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:44.839 throw things away at the drop of a hat, you know, yeah, definitely, 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:46.760 and uh and so that that cuts down in the clutter. 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:48.680 But still it's easy to be like, oh, I got 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.960 a new phone, I should keep this old phone because 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:53.920 who knows the new one could break. I might need 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.520 to fall back on this one, or you know, they'll 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:58.280 they'll be like, oh, I don't have time for this 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.520 hobby anymore, but maybe I will someday. So I should 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.640 just I shouldn't throw it away or sell it or 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:05.440 give it away. I should just put in the attic 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:07.280 for a little while. Yeah, yeah, that's how I feel 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.800 at my thigh master. I might use that one day 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.120 as a weapon or yes, definitely as a weapon. You 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:14.680 never know, it could be I think it could be 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.840 retrofitting look into a small um you know, caliber catapult, 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.120 you know. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, some sort 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.520 of sling device. Yeah, yeah, but again it's a slippery 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.520 slope before you know it. It's like the the house 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.440 that that that I'm that we're in now that I 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:32.520 my wife and I bought that. When we first got 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.920 it was just loaded with stuff like three Christmas trees 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.560 in the attic, that kind of thing, you know, because 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:41.520 the whole mindset can just go crazy. But what's interesting 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:45.039 is that when you look to uh nature, when you 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.160 look to evolution, you see a similar kind of hoarding 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.880 going on, or maybe not outright hoarding, but definitely hanging 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.080 on to things that that there's not really a use 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:59.760 for it anymore. A genetic hoarding, yeah, genetic and even 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:06.360 like just physiological hoarding. We're of course talking about vestigiality, um, 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:12.480 the occurrence of this vestigial organs, vestigial limbs, vestigial body parts, uh, 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.960 in all animals, but particularly in humans. Okay, And so 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.440 I'm thinking right off the bat, like I've heard about 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.600 whales with hip bones or leg bones. Yeah. Yeah, you 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.520 look at like a skeleton of a whale, and you know, 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.120 the head is very very pronounced. You know, all the 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.600 skeletal system is clearly really important, except for this like 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.080 a little pelvic area and these little like the remnants 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.519 of hind legs that just haven't been used in forever. 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:43.360 But it's if the it's as if the whale's body 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.760 on some like kind a very basic level, is like, well, 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.120 who knows, we might need to grow those legs out someday, 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.720 we might go back to land. We've done it before, 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.320 so we'll just we'll just keep this much around. Huh. 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.400 So it's sort of a law of probability thing going 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.239 on in nature. Yeah. That's the thing that keeps coming 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:03.680 back to me, is is we were looking at I mean, 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.200 on one hand, these are souvenirs of an evolutionary past. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.239 You know, they're their pieces that no longer serve either 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.119 they don't serve a purpose anymore, or they don't serve 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.880 the purpose they were intended for. But there's and there's 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.800 and there's also a sense that evolution is kind of lazy, 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.160 that it's not going to you know, it's not gonna 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:27.560 fix anything that's not broken. Uh. But it also it 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.120 doesn't just throw something out in the same way that 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.520 like an animal doesn't say, just suddenly grow an entirely 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.880 new limb for some new purpose. You know it. You 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.960 know it's ay, a small badger animal at some point 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.600 in the you know, the primeval past needed to get 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.520 inside a log to eat a grub. It wouldn't like 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:50.200 grow like a fifth um grub grabbing instrument, you know 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:52.480 it would it would like develop like a tongue that 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.280 could reach in or nails that could could dig into 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.400 the trunk. You know. It works with what it has. 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.440 And and so it's like a similar the to ularity 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.160 is is like a similar thing in reverse, it seems 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.320 where um where it's like you don't if you don't 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.920 need hind legs anymore, you don't just completely get rid 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.680 of all the bones. You just sort of retract, you 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.600 downsize that portion, but you didn't not to the point 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.479 where you can't come back, okay. And so atavisms, which 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:25.200 are really closely related to the vestigial organs and traits 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.600 I think are pretty fascinating too, and they're a little 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.920 bit different in that, Uh, an atavism is is basically 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:35.280 a trait from like a distant, distant evolutionary ancestor. We're 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.960 not talking about you know, you're a great great grandfather. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:43.360 We're talking like fifty years ago. Where um, that particular 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.320 piece of DNA gets expressed again. And the thing that 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.320 comes straight to mind the difference I guess between the 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.640 vestigial and atavistic our babies that are born with tails, 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.880 which is so crazy in the first place, Yes, actually happens. 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:03.320 It's not just a nationally fire headline. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.880 it's not that boy with the tail. Um. So if 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.160 you think about turkeys, which are flightless birds, and you 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.000 see their wings, uh, those are of a stigial right, yes, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.400 because they're sort of imperfect versions of what they might 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:20.960 have had when they were taking flight. Right. The ostrich 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.560 is another example of that. Yeah. Yeah, And so if 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:25.400 you look at a baby born with a tail, that's 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.640 just sort of more of a evolutionary oddity. But yeah, 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.400 and and kind of but kind of like as if 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:33.719 suddenly like there was a turkey that had like of 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:35.640 all the turkeys, like, suddenly there's a turkey that has 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:40.200 like maybe larger wings. Kind of a deal because because 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.520 it's not like the baby's growing a tail for balance 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.080 but in it but in a prior evolutionary form, it 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.880 would have needed a tail for balance. Yeah, yeah, exactly, 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.720 like perhaps there are prehensile um it was a prehensile 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.599 tail that you could use to wrap around a tree 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.200 limb to support yourself. Even so, I mean, they're there 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.080 are different ways that a tail could have been used 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.040 in evolution. But every once in a while there the 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.600 ghosts just kind of like there's an on off switch 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.960 with a dimmer in our genes, and over the years, 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.760 you know, the evolutionary force decided, hey, we don't really 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.200 need this tale anymore. Let's dim that down to the 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.640 bare minimum. And uh, but then every now and then 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.920 that the dimmer switch gets brought up just a little bit, right, 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.359 And if you are unlucky enough to be born in 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.440 the ninth century with a tale, well it just wouldn't 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.200 have been good news for you. By the way, I 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.479 just wanted to point that out. Your mother would have 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.920 been branded a witch and you would both been disposed 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:41.159 of because obviously a tale uh looks as though it's 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.440 something from the dark arts or from the beast. There's 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.960 some sort of a changeling left in the crib exactly. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.520 So that's that's one of the really interesting things about 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.320 the sigil and ottavistic traits. I just don't behave the 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.760 way that you think they're going to. Yeah, now, a 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.279 lot of this, uh, it really comes out of the 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.200 work of Charles Darwin. I mean not the actual traits 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.880 and the actual appearance of things like tales et cetera. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:11.040 But but but our understanding of what these things are 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.080 comes from from his one book, that is Sin of Man. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.600 And in this he identified about a dozen different anatomical 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.360 features that he thought were useless, uh and that we 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.760 don't use them the same way that other creatures do. 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.560 So um. For Darwin, this is this was also proved 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:33.000 that we we evolved from a primitive ancestors from primitive ancestors. Um. 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.760 And it's interesting. There's another guy that came after Darwin 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.080 who like like he really took on, took hold of 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.800 this idea and ran with And his name was Robert 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:47.040 of Widersham and uh he was an anatomist, this is, 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.360 and he put together a list that had like ninety 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.040 different things on it, which which I find just amazing. Um. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:58.840 And and not to say that this was not a 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.240 very learned guy. This guy was pretty This was a 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.280 very bright guy. He was he was on the cutting 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:09.600 edge of science, reported to note UM and he and 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.080 he was just he was he was just very well, 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.560 he was just a little ambitious maybe and just a 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.520 little too eager to classify things. Uh. So you see 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:23.120 this mentioned a lot, especially by people who want to 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:29.520 UM want to defend say creationism against UM against evolution, 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.480 because like people who are are proponents of evolutionary theory 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.360 will often point out um the stigio, organs and limbs 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.600 as as proof that that we've evolved and there's not 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.360 some sort of divine forced dictating what a body looks like. Uh, 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.400 but they'll they'll but a creationists will sometimes throw this back, 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:49.040 like if you do a search for this guy's name 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.880 on on the internet, you'll find pretty much nothing but 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:59.960 but like random blog entries or message board posts attacking evolution. 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.320 So what was the sort of the meat of his 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.920 uh theory or the Well, well, that's the thing, the 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.200 important something that's not really mentioned any of these lists 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.679 is that the list itself is pretty particular. I mean, 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.079 there's some like glaring things where he was like, people 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.720 don't need three toes, the three in toes, like the 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.000 pinky toe, and then the other two I forget which 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.480 pigs those are, so the piggy that ate and the 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:25.840 one that didn't and then the one that went. We 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:27.680 we all the way home. Yeah, he was like, we 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.200 don't need those guys. But it was the other stuff, 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:34.040 like there's like there's the lumbar lit rib. A lot 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.240 of things on this list are kind of in medical 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:38.280 ease and I'm not really sure what they are, to 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:42.400 be honest, but but it but it was very particular, 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.840 and uh, and they were all things that he he 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.400 said that they don't actually have a function in the body, 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.280 and therefore they're just remnants of evolutionary past. Of course, 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.280 over time we looked at it at more detail and 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.080 we realized, oh, wait, well we actually do need this. 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.840 This does serve a purpose. And I imagine anybody that's 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.600 missing three toes on each foot would probably be able 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.840 to tell you that it's it's not ideal. No, no, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.080 particularly in heels so let's let's go through some of these. Uh. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.160 These are the more common one because because the list 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.920 is not ninety strong anymore, it's uh, they're really only 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:18.080 a handful of really good examples, and and even some 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:20.720 of those as we'll discuss. Um. You can go back 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.360 and forth on So, um, wisdom teeth do you do? 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.439 You have them? Yes? I well no I have one. 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.920 Three have been extracted, and of course, like anyone, they 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.079 are the ben of my existence. Um. And the interesting 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.680 thing about wisdom teeth, I think is the moniker and 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.720 it is so called wisdom teeth because they usually emerge 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:44.679 between the ages of seventeen and twenty five, which I 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.839 think back in the day was thought to be when 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.880 you had gained a good amount of knowledge and you'd 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.400 become wise. Of course, we know otherwise that the brain 0:10:54.440 --> 0:11:00.320 itself isn't even fully developed tell aged. But but I digress. Um, 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.080 So wisdom teeth. There are a couple of different schools 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.960 of thought on this, um why they're vestigial now. One 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:12.040 is hygiene. Um, if you were living twenty thousand years ago, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.760 you certainly weren't brushing your teeth twice a day, and 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.280 particularly not with floride. So, um, you're probably missing a 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:20.920 good amount of your teeth by the time that you 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:25.080 turned eighteen, which is probably I don't know about half 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.880 of your lifespan anyway. So if you're really helpful, if 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.360 you've got some wisdom teeth in kind of got an 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:33.599 upgrade your chompers. So that's one theory. Wow. So that 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.760 so basically by the time your wisdom teeth came in, uh, 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.880 some of your other teeth would be ready to go. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.280 Like this is kind of like the second row of 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.360 sharp teeth exactly right, right you are? You are wise 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.560 and toothless at this point and getting on in years, 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.720 I guess, so looking like you know, if you're considering 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.720 just like ancient ancient man, right right, I mean, how 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.920 else are you going to be able to eat your 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.040 tiger meat? So you've got to You've got to get 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.640 you've got to have something there in the wings. Um. 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:05.360 The second school of thought is that as we evolve, 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.840 that our jaws have actually gotten a lot smaller. So 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.560 it's pretty simple. There was some teeth are getting crowded 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:16.360 out their extraneous Uh they're a pain in the butt. Uh, 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:21.640 they're unpleasant and they must be removed. Oh good, right, well, 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.400 I probably will have to remove mine eventually or have 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:29.240 them removed professionally rather um, because mine are generally rather quiet. 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:31.840 But then occasionally they'll just be really painful for like 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.560 a week. Yeah, they seem to do some sort of 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:40.000 flare up, some sort of like evolutionary like hey remember me. Well. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.680 Another example is is body hair. H This is a 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.439 This one's rather obvious when you when you look at it. Um, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:50.480 you know, a good head of hair can help maintain 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.199 cranial temperatures um and you know up. But obviously it's 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.640 not mandatory, as any bald person will be able to 0:12:57.679 --> 0:12:59.480 tell you, or you know, just somebody who likes to 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.440 shave their head. But but body hair used to be 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:07.520 very important back in like, you know, way prehistoric days 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:10.319 when when we were just you know, just naked creatures 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.600 wandering a a frigid landscape. We depended on really furry 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.240 bodies to maintain temperature. But of course, over time we 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.960 wandered into areas that didn't that they weren't as cold, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.440 We went into warmer climates, We developed the ability to 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.920 sweat and um and uh, and eventually we figured out 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.520 how to make clothes and you know to mansions and 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.160 building mansions. Yeah, so so you have body hair is 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:37.920 is is a great example of something that we we 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.760 really do not need a lot of people get rid 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.560 of it through one or regularly purge themselves of it. Uh. 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.320 And it's just you know, an evolutionary trait from from 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.760 the old days. M hm. And yet it was so 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:56.079 nice to have a stylish head of hair. Yeah, well 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.000 I'm thinking like back to sort of evolution, never throwing 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.480 something out just in case it needs it again. It's 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:05.040 it's kind of an example of of where where they're saying, hey, 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:07.920 you may have sweaters and make mansions today, but what 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.000 about next year? What about a hundred years from now 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.559 might get pretty cold? Yeah that nuclear winter, Yeah, there 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.200 might be another ice stage coming. It's like, don't you know. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.080 It's like, I know all you humans want to be 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.760 like nice, pink and hairless, but you know, just calm down. 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:23.360 You might need it to get that's right, saying hey, 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.320 I'm in here for the long haul. Yeah, yeah, I'm 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:27.560 keeping it something to think about. Yeah, I don't know 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.040 about wisdom teeth though, like if if it is if 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.280 it's like actually the jaw has has shrunk like I 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.040 can't imagine that there being a case where I know, 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.560 maybe there it is where are eventually our jaw would 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:42.120 get bigger, or it's like nature's way of saying, hey, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.120 you can brush your teeth every day and lift till 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:47.200 eighty now, but you know, call me in a hundred 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.840 years and see if that's the case. Yeah, it's it's possible. 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.240 I do think there's a logic behind it. And um, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.680 I think another one of these traits, which I don't 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:57.760 know if it would come back or not, we will 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.480 have to think about that is called Darwin's point, and 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:04.600 it's also known as Darwin's tuber cole. And it's basically 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.920 a small thick nodule on the upper ear lobe that 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.200 we think was meant to help focus sounds so kind 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.840 of hone in, so it's essentially a little fleshy antenna. 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.280 I'm having a hard time picturing it since we're both 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.440 wearing headphones. Well now I now want to peel back 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.400 your headphone and see if you have it. Um, but 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.800 it's actually in some and some people looks kind of pronounced. 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.840 It looks like a little elfin, like a little elfin 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.160 ear bumps it's actually kind of cute. Um. But not 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.760 everybody has this. This isn't more like an atavistic trait. Um. 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.320 So in some populations it only shows up like ten 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.520 percent of the time and others fifty percent of the time. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.080 Just sort of depends on where you live, what your 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.560 genetics are, and so on and so forth. Um. But again, 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.280 you know, maybe in the future we will need some 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:55.200 little antenna device to help us with sound. You never know. Yeah, 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:56.880 or it's kind of a case where it's like you're 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:00.240 not using it, but hey, it's not like it's inconveniencing us. Though. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:02.880 Mature is kind of like like, you know, don't freak out. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:04.960 We're just gonna keep this around and gains you need it. 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:06.800 It's not like you're tripping over it. No, if you 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:09.520 can dress it up for Halloween, make it even more pronounced. 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:22.800 This presentation is brought to you by Intel Sponsors of Tomorrow. Now, 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.240 another interesting the studio trait is the volmer and nasal 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:31.600 organ which, yeah, and this is a structure in the 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.680 nose that would ideally be used to detect pheromones emitted 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:39.880 by potential mates. Uh in humans though uh, this you know, 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.440 like cats and dogs are big on this and various 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.320 other animals um, which is why I actually have a 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:50.160 little spray can of cat pheromone to use just on 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.280 your desk. I just want to want cats attacking me 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.920 and coming to lay in all over me. UM no 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.960 to keep to to try and keep ours from up 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.080 from urinating where it's not supposed to um, which we're 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.840 not sure she does, but just in case. Cat pheromones 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:05.680 and spray form. Yeah, it's good to have around. Yeah. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.320 I did get myself in the face with it one 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.640 day because with spraying it on event and I didn't 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:11.920 realize the event was on, and so it's like three 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.679 squirts of cat pheromone and then right back up in 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.600 my face. So I was followed all day. But yeah, yeah, 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.840 your eyeball was licked a lot. Yeah, they're scratchy tongue, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.240 so weird on the eyeball. But but no so in 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.960 humans though, uh, it doesn't even appear to be connected 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.399 to the brain in any way. The vomber and nasal 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.120 organ it's like it's not even plugged in. It's it's 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.199 like the if you have a toaster of in your 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.520 kitchen and you haven't used it in in ages. It's 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.000 not even plugged in, but it's taken up counterspace. So 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:44.920 if it were plugged in, does not mean we would 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:49.840 all be sniffing each other. Maybe maybe I don't know. 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:52.720 I just sorry I had to ask. Um, let's let's 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.440 hope it doesn't turn on. It would be it would 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.040 certainly change the culture a bit. It would be awkward. 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:04.760 So apparently embryos, embryonic humans actually developed this organ um 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.360 and it's and and at one point in their development 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:11.359 it's it's it's very much like the vombarnasal organs and 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:16.440 other animals. But then it displaces and and it's pretty 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.000 much just sort of set aside for the remainder like 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:20.879 so so we always end up keeping it. It's all, 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.840 it's there, but it's just never plugged in. Do you 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.679 mind if I talk about nipples? Go for it? Okay? 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.520 So male nipples, I mean we you know, the question 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:31.439 always comes up every once in a while. Yeah, what 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:35.399 are they for? Why? I just wanted to say, I 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.840 hope you know this doesn't get too sensitive, but it's 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:42.320 it's completely normal. And um, the short answer of the 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:47.240 reason why men have nipples is because women do, and actually, 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.520 in other non humans. This is true as well. Was 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.960 this is a fallback in the idea that the female 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.240 is actually the the is actually the species, and the 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:02.280 male is just a mutation all the species necessary for approcreation. 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.159 I'd like to think so, but actually this has to 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:10.159 do with nature sort of again law probability, sort of 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.600 creating this in both males and females. Uh So, it's 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.160 it's called genetic correlation, and it really is a game 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.000 of probability. So even though sex is determined at the 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:25.040 time of fertilization, the gonads actually don't turn into testes 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.480 or into ovaries until the seventh week, and they don't 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:32.520 expressing the they don't start expressing the gender until them. Yeah, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.800 so just think it's just just in case scenario. So 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:37.800 it's kind of like if you have a I don't 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.199 know if they do this anymore, but you do. It's 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.520 like if you if you if you purchase an automobile 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:46.159 that didn't have like a cigarette ashtray, like sometimes there 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.240 would be you could see the space where it would be. Yes, 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:52.080 So it's like the default car body um or or 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.919 just like interior body or shell or whatever had the 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.679 place for it, just in case it was there right exactly, 0:19:57.800 --> 0:19:59.800 So just in case nature was like, you know what, 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.119 this is a gamble here, Well, we'll go ahead and 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.560 give nipples to everybody. All mammals, they get them. Um. 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:08.960 And you might have actually even heard of something called 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:14.760 witch's milk um, and this is actually produced in newborn infants. Yeah, 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:16.800 and people kind of get freaked out about that because 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:19.240 I think, whoa, my why why is my son lactating? 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.240 WHOA like a baby will lactate? Yeah, yeah, it's it's rare. 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.399 I didn't I knew about men lactating, of course, but 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:29.159 but babies, which is milk? Yeah, which is milk. But 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:34.600 the reason is because they're they're brush actually stimulated when 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:37.560 they're in their mother's womb because the mother's hormones are 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.560 crossing the placenta. So they basically kind of they come 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.840 out and they still have some of those hormones in 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.960 their system and they start lactating. So if this happens, 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:52.040 it's it's actually not abnormal. It's fine. Wow. Yeah. So 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:54.240 if you were if you happen to have been born 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:57.920 in ye olden times as a baby with the tail lactating, 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.160 I'm sorry, yeah, you were toast. Yeah, it just wasn't 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:08.800 looking good for you or your mom. So what there's 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:10.840 a debate here. So there are some people who say 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:15.639 that actually that the nipples aren't vestigial because it's more like, 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:19.960 you know, again that game of probability. Um, they would 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.840 be active if you are a female um or at 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:28.480 least actively lactating. Right. Um, So let's talk about a 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.359 little bit like the like what is vestigial, what's not vestigial? 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:34.639 Some things that are up in the air. Yeah, because 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:38.320 it's um, you know, it's it's it's like, like we said, 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:40.600 some of these things are are just in a process 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.800 of maybe being phased out for the time being, and 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:45.800 uh and someone in they're also cases's kind of like 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:49.359 that list of ninety odd things. Um, you know, we 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:51.280 came back around to some of those and said, well wait, 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:53.439