That said, I'm actually amazed how tough the human skull is.
I do recall having a debate in college, which is when one should debate such things, over what evolutionary advantages there might be in having your nerve-center be in the middle of your body, like under your ribcage, rather than in its own case right up top.
On the upside, it's hard to cut a guy's head off if his head isn't a separate part of his body. On the down side, where would the eyes go?
This all came about because of a line in
Othello,
where there are supposed to be (among other critters) "anthropophagi" who have their heads in the middle of their bodies, and eat men.
Don't we have a lizard-brain-thingy in the guts somewhere?
On the upside, it's hard to cut a guy's head off if his head isn't a separate part of his body. On the down side, where would the eyes go?
The eyes really should be on something that rotates. Stalks are easier to cut off than heads.
And, really, how often are people attacked and decapitated? I'd wager most of the attacks are to centre mass anyway--cops don't shoot to the head because it's harder to hit than the torso. People get stabbed in the torso more than the head too.
Congrats Cashmere! Welcome to the world Olivia.
Okay, let's eliminate the likelihood of being attacked at the head. How about all those broken necks in history? It's possible to die of a flailed chest, but I bet broken necks are more common, what with the neck/head basically being a fleshy ball on a chain.
The lizard-brain thing with the spinal cord is just an alarm system, really. The impulse from your fingertip travels to your spine, and under certain circumstances, it cuts through the red tape and says FIRE!!! rather than just passing along the message to the brain and waiting for a response. Thus, you lift your finger off the stove before you're really conscious that it's hot.
Unless you're talking about something else?
Defamer cheerfully misunderstands fic and slash.
Considering the entire article is four, maybe five sentences long, they've managed to pack an impressive amount of stupid and sloppy into such a tiny little space.
Hah. Went back and checked. Just three sentences. Now the stupid is even more amazing!
they've managed to pack an impressive amount of stupid and sloppy into such a tiny little space.
See also: my mother in law.
How about all those broken necks in history? It's possible to die of a flailed chest, but I bet broken necks are more common, what with the neck/head basically being a fleshy ball on a chain.
I can see this eliminating more accidental deaths. Are you eliminating the head entirely, or just moving the brain down? If you keep the head, then you've added distance between eyes and ears to the big computer -- will there be latency considerations?
For malicious deaths, I don't think it'd make one that much safer.
Are you still encasing the CPU in bone? How will that work with the skeletal system--are you enlarging the torso to accomodate? Where would the brain go? Tucked somewhere below the diaphragm? There's a lot of motion in the torso. Do we want the brain in motion even when the body is at rest?
I think the fragile brain on a stem thing makes sense on the "wouldn't want to live like that" front. Before modern medicine how many brain injured people actualy DID?
[Please note: I'm not suggesting brain injured people should not live. I'm suggesting that for hunter gatherers (or bunny rabbits for that matter) to take care of community members with disrupted higher functions likely didn't work so many critters evolved on an "all or nothing" track higher-function wise.]
