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.]

I'm pretty sure some insects have brain functions in their torsos or knees or whatnot, but evolution didn't branch that way for any of the mammals. Must be some pressure not to.

And, really, how often are people attacked and decapitated?

I was watching Farenheit 9/11 for the first time last night (I put off watching it for so long because my own depression was so bad that the real world reasons to be depressed were too much to add on) and they showed a clip of a public beheading in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. I thought they'd pull away from the actual beheading, but they didn't. The executioner did *not* get it on the first swing.

I imagine the head was a better target in the days of swordplay than it is now.

Must be some pressure not to.

Same pressure that gave us the knee? I figure sometimes stuff just works well enough to not have the species die out. Get us as far as sapience, and we'll start picking up the slack.

I imagine the head was a better target in the days of swordplay than it is now.

It's still really hard to pull off the in-combat decapitation, though. Unless you're a Macleod.

Well, I'm glad for the head because the face is one of the first physical things that attracts me about a person. And otherwise we'd have to say "giving chest" or something.

Going for the triple! Can she do it?

Richard Huff really dislikes Jon Stewart.

During November, the political high season in which Stewart and his cohorts supposedly thrive, the show averaged 1.45 million viewers.
For comparison, Nielsen estimates there are 218 million people over the age of 18 in the nation's 112 million homes with televisions.
That's a lot of people not getting Stewart's comedy.

You can tell because he saves the simple step of noting that not all 112 million homes have Comedy Central until two sentences later. I hate that kind of writing.

Unless you're a Macleod.

Speaking of which, Highlander is now up at Angry Alien bunny productions.

Highlander is now up at Angry Alien bunny productions

I AM IN LOVE.

I'm pretty sure some insects have brain functions in their torsos or knees or whatnot, but evolution didn't branch that way for any of the mammals. Must be some pressure not to.

You do get the odd "You can't get there from here" moments in evolution. It'd be a pretty major restructuring to have the brain migrate to parts south (or, in my brother's case, parts north), and I'm not convinced the intermediary steps would be particularly effective (eg, having your brain in your neck). Even if there were a significant advantage, I doubt it would happen.

Incidentally, I'm thinking that one consideration here is the brain needs to be very firmly encased, which means a solid bone covering (though the recent discovery of the world's smallest fish - was it tommyrot linked to it? - doesn't have a skull, as I recall), while most creatures want pretty flexible torsos to make high-speed travel easier. That could suggest an advantage in the current arrangement.

Same pressure that gave us the knee? I figure sometimes stuff just works well enough to not have the species die out. Get us as far as sapience, and we'll start picking up the slack.

Yeah, pretty much. The knee isn't really very well designed for bipedal living. Pops too easily. But it's a leftover from our quadrupedal heritage, like the plumbing arrangements that make us susceptible to hernias. But as long as the bipedal stance offers more advantages, we live with the drawbacks. Like Kriss Kross wearing their jeans backwards.