LETTERS 



Stupid Design 



I am an engineer, not a bi- 

 ologist, but I agree with 

 the point made by Neil 

 deGrasse Tyson in his arti- 

 cle "The Perimeter of Ig- 

 norance" [11/05]: we are 

 not engineered intelligent- 

 ly. A good engineer would 

 have placed a single ear on 

 top of our heads so we 

 could hear equally in all 

 directions (with proper 

 guarding for rain runoff, of 

 course). Surely we would 

 be able to breathe and 

 swallow at the same time. 

 And wouldn't a tail still 

 come in handy to hold a 

 flashlight when we have 

 one wrench on the bolt 

 and another on the nut? 

 Bill Schubert 

 Twin Lake, Michigan 



Neil deGrasse Tyson criti- 

 cizes the eye as an example 

 of poor engineering because 

 it can't detect ultraviolet, in- 

 frared, and other wave- 

 lengths of radiation. Biolo- 

 gists have another reason to 

 see it as an example of un- 

 intelligent design: the retina 

 is oriented backwards, with 

 the sensory cells located at 

 the back. Light must travel 

 through layers ot nerve cells 

 in order to reach the senso- 

 ry cells, which is a most in- 

 efficient design. 



The arrangement makes 

 sense only if the embryonic 

 development of the optic 

 cup is understood as an out- 

 growth of the brain. In the 

 vertebrate embryo, the cells 

 that will become the senso- 

 ry cells of the retina are ini- 

 tially located on the outer- 

 most layer of the body. The 

 brain then develops as an 

 "inpocketing" of the outer 

 layer of the embryo. Pre- 



February 2006 NATURAL nisioRY 



sumably our distant ances- 

 tors developed light-sensing 

 cells on the outside of their 

 bodies, where the light 

 would hit. Evolution is the 

 only way to make sense of 

 the backwards retina. 

 Judith S. Weis 

 Rutgers University 

 Newark, New Jersey 



My favorite example to add 

 to Neil deGrasse Tyson's list 

 of "clunky, goofy, imprac- 

 tical" designs is the left 

 recurrent laryngeal nerve. 

 The larynx is supplied by 

 branches of cranial nerve X. 

 Two of those branches are 

 the recurrent laryngeals, 

 which, instead of branching 

 ofTat the level of the lar- 

 ynx, originate in the chest. 

 Furthermore, the left recur- 

 rent laryngeal is nine inches 



longer than the right one. 

 Because both recurrent la- 

 ryngeal nerves are so long, 

 they are at greater risk of 

 injury, including (in mod- 

 ern times) froni surgery in 

 the neck or upper thorax. 

 Why would anyone design 

 such an arrangement? It's a 

 pure accident of embryonic 

 development. 

 ///;/ Peck 



Jackson , Mississippi 



Editor's note: The fol- 

 lowing e-mail exchange 

 began as a letter from James 

 Caggegi, a reader in Tustm, 

 California, regarding "The 

 Perimeter of Ignorance." 

 Neil deGrasse Tyson's re- 

 sponses were made as inter- 

 polations within the body 

 of the e-mail, and are re- 

 produced here in italic. 



James Caggegi: Mr. 

 Tyson, the human body's 

 design, though faulty by 

 your standards, is a design 

 nonetheless. And a design 

 presupposes a designer. 

 Now, whether the designer 

 is "time and chance" or an 

 "intelligent designer" is a 

 battleground for debate. 

 >> Neil deGrasse 

 Tyson: My opinion is not 

 particularly relei'ant here. I 

 simply asserted that, by the 

 standards of any sensible engi- 

 neer, the human body is also 

 faulty or underequipped. 

 JC: I am not a scientist, but 

 I know the definition of 

 "science" is knowledge. 

 >> NDT: Although Vve 

 never been a fan of debates 

 over word definitions, I think 

 it's important to note that sci- 

 ence is a process of knowing, 



i 



plaintiff 



I 



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