Another reason to take anatomy...

I'm doing an oral presentation on the arm, the axilla (armpit) and the brachial plexus in anatomy tomorrow. Currently, my ten minute presentation takes about 45 minutes. I'll work on that...

But the other day, I read in the paper - I know I said I wouldn't, but it was just there! - that the "Intelligent Design" movement is gaining ground in pushing evolution out of schools. Basically, these -usually very religious- people are arguing that life is so complex it had to be created by a higher power. Smart move, as the literal interpretation of creationism is falling flat on its face, but obviously still not grounded in much knowledge of science or even anatomy.

Because really, have any of them seen the brachial plexus???? (This is a network of cervical spinal nerves that merge and split and weave in and out of each other in a matter of a few inches before entering and innervating the arm, forearm and hand.) How do they explain that? Was that the night God dropped acid? And what about the night he decided to send the recurrent laryngeal nerve down through the neck around the aorta and back up to the neck to innervate the larynx (voice box)?

If you look at how the human embryo develops through the many stages that resemble less complex forms of life (and shadows of our evolutionary history) and then you look at the final -rather disorganized- mess, it's really hard to belive that someone "intelligent" sat around with doll figures of Adam and Eve and "designed" something that more closely resembles a ball of string left under the supervision of a kitten. Unless this intelligent being was really bored or really, really, really high. And that seems a whole lot more insulting to God, whoever/whatever your God may be, than the theory of evolution.


PS: On another note, the poem "Cavaria" that I wrote (below), has been accepted as a finalist in some poetry contest. Yay! Funny, I was inspired to write it after a glance at my checking account (14 finalists will win $1000 each)...sometimes a healthy mixture of greed and despair is a good thing.