
Male faces 'buttressed against punches' by evolution - schrofer
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27720617
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jonathansizz
The problem with drawing these kinds of conclusions is that it's easy to
invent adaptive stories that purport to explain changes in morphological
features, but not easy to build a case that will convince an appropriately
sceptical audience.

I've heard of over a dozen disparate adaptive explanations for why zebras have
stripes or why human hair is less dense than that of other mammals, but none
are necessarily correct.

~~~
haberman
Totally agreed. It strikes me as very similar to traditional myths, or stories
that purport to explain how things are. The only difference is that instead of
using gods and supernatural powers, our new myths take into account scientific
information like the theory of evolution.

So our new myths are more plausible, but just as unsubstantiated.

~~~
hnriot
* So our new myths are more plausible, but just as unsubstantiated.

that's blatant bullshit - god myths are in no way more plausible than
scientifically testable means. It's not like evolution isn't something that is
not still happening, it's perfectly testable. I am sure that citing numerous
examples wouldn't change your mind because no amount of scientific evidence
will ever change the minds of those that choose not. Faith is a dangerous
thing, but thankfully it will be selected against by evolution as we move into
an era where our species survival will rely upon science.

~~~
gohrt
> Faith is a dangerous thing, but thankfully it will be selected against by
> evolution as we move into an era where our species survival will rely upon
> science.

That statement is completely based on faith and a misunderstanding of how
evolution works. The species relies upon science, but the benefits of science
are not reserved for science-loving minds. A religious Luddit enjoys modern
medicine as much as anyone else, and often more, if one looks at family-size
measurements.

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beloch
I took a couple of physical anthro courses in university, and I never did get
a satisfactory explanation for why genus homo evolved a parabolic dental
arcade. After reading this, one has to wonder how a parabolic vs. U-shaped
dental arcade functions when it comes to spreading force from a fist-blow,
either head-on or oblique.

Modern humans have proportionally less upper body strength than
australopithecines, but what about neandertal's? If there was a linear
relationship between reducing jaw robustness and upper body strength over the
last few million years, neadertals have got to be an outlier! If a parabolic
dental arcade offers better protection against blows, perhaps fisticuffs
remained an evolutionary pressure but nature just found a more efficient way
to address it than making thicker bones.

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vanderZwan
In a way this reminds of this SMBC:

[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2138](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2138)

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balor123
So we can survive a punch to the face now but we can't breath while asleep.
Thanks for nothing, nature!

~~~
pavel_lishin
How do our faces prevent us from breathing in our sleep? I seem to have
survived last night.

~~~
e40
Lucky you. Many people suffer from a deviated septum, which restricts airflow.
The airflow in one of my nostrils is dramatically less than the other, and if
the good one is blocked, for any reason (cold, allergies), I'm a mouth
breather.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Ah, I forgot about deviated septums. Wonder what evolutionary advantage came
with those.

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humanresources
The article suggests that we started evolving _away_ from adaptations to
survive violence two species ago.

~~~
imjk
Damnit, I was hoping to find a justification for my oversized head.

