The extreme detour of the recurrent laryngeal nerves, about 4.6 metres (15 ft) in the case of giraffes,[32]: 74–75 has been cited as evidence of evolution, as the nerve's route would have been direct in the fish-like ancestors of modern tetrapods, traveling from the brain, past the heart, to the gills (as it does in modern fish).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurrent_laryngeal_nerve

[–] wischi@programming.dev 56 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Intelligent design. Same with our eyes 🤣 just put them in backwards and thread the cables through the retina; genius. Octopuses are clearly gods chosen "people".

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The intelligent design geniuses argue that the eye is too complex to have evolved.

"Of course it didn't evolve like that! It started with a patch of light-sensitive cells and worked it's way up from there. And that's happened more than once."

They have to think evolution means that creatures and features popped into existence fully formed. Not only because that's how the Bible tells it, they can't comprehend evolution on a 7,000-yo Earth. And neither can I!

You've got the killer argument though. "Why didn't God bother to make our eyes like he did with the octopus?"

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I remember my stepdad citing Pokemon in his arguments against evolution

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Damn! Almost commented that they take evolution as Pokemon!

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago (4 children)

His theological understanding of pokemon was convoluted at best, haha.

He swore up and down that pokemon trainers were witches, and the pokemon were demons they could summon to act as their familiars, and their evolution was symbolic of how much satan's power had corrupted the vessel.

Like, he thought you started with a mouse, then summoned a demon into it and bound it to make it your familiar, turning it into Pikachu. Then as Pikachu evolved into Raichu, that was a sign that satan's power is further corrupting the poor mouse, one of god's creatures.

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Was he senile?

[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Honestly that sounds like a pretty rad take on the creature-collector genre. I’d play that game, sounds like a spinoff of SMT. Maybe your stepdad missed his calling as a game designer

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I feel like this is another instance of conservatives making things sound so much cooler than they actually are lol

[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

I remember someone once saying that Shin Megami Tensei is the game your conservative parents tried to convince you Pokémon was, and that stuck with me

[–] Meron35@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

He was probably just caught up in the satanic panic against Pokémon in the 90s.

The situation was so serious that the Vatican had to "bless" the Pokémon 2000 movie in an attempt to tell evangelicals to chill.

Pokémon movie earns Papal blessing - https://nypost.com/2000/04/21/pokemon-earns-papal-blessing/

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

10/10 would watch the series "Pokedoms" (Pocket Demons I mean!! ... hope the name isn't taken, tho I would watch the other thing too).

[–] Egonallanon@feddit.uk 13 points 2 days ago

The same nerve also exists in giraffes and does the same thing so it is consequently fucking massive.