The only possible exceptions I can think of are fish(I imagine gills and mouth are not connected but don’t really know). I am excluding bacteria and viruses and I believe they don’t really breath(correct me if I’m wrong).

  • 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.social
    9·
    20 hours ago

    I’d have put the vocal chords in the nasal passage, allowing humans to still talk while eliminating the choking problem.

    The laryngeal nerve is a much more stupid design, simply because there’s no practical reason for it to be the way it is.

    Also: if we didn’t have the ability to breath through our mouths, swimming as a sport would be harder, since we don’t have the ability to close our nose-holes.

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      1 hour ago

      Yeah, I say designed, but it’s not in the “something planned it” sense. We ended up this way because of a series of random chances that just sorta’ worked in allowing us to live long enough to have more successful offspring.

    • OutlierBlue@lemmy.caEnglish
      7·
      20 hours ago

      I’d have put the vocal chords in the nasal passage, allowing humans to still talk while eliminating the choking problem.

      Exactly. A very simple correction to the design would allow for both.

      The laryngeal nerve is a great example of how flawed our bodies are. A few more are:

      • Our back is terrible for walking upright. It evolved as a horizontal support and doesn’t work well when compressed.
      • Our hips are too narrow for the size skull we give birth to. Many women die from this without healthcare.
      • Our eyes suck. A lot of people need corrective lenses from a young age. This gets even worse as we age.
      • Speaking of eyes, our retinas are backwards. The nerves that send the signals back to our brains run in front the receptors that pick up the light. We have a blind spot because those nerves need to pass through to reach the brain.
    • angrystego@lemmy.world
      2·
      19 hours ago

      Quite a lot of people can close their nose-holes by curling up their upper lip. I’m not one of them, unfortunately.