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Bodies are horrible
Manage episode 366299277 series 3484896
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Sci fight is a quarterly Science Comedy Debate where scientists and comedians come together to debate serious issues in a ridiculous manner.
This round's topic: Bodies are horrible
Bodies. You’ve probably got one. Unless you’re a concept. Or an algorithm. Or a sentient shade of purple. Either way, this is an inclusive space.
Trapped within this profusion of soggy tubes and various humors, we stumble from one potentially lethal encounter with either gravity, toxins, radiation, or more recently, the AIR, to the next.
Physics, chemistry, botany, astronomy; geology, heck, even zoology; there’s not a single branch of science that can’t immediately conjure a litany of methods with which to dismantle a body. No one should be more surprised than us that we’ve managed to multiply to the quantities that we have, or, perhaps, it's this precise cognisance that drives us as a species to stack the numbers for our survival.
They burp, they fart, they bleed, they ache, they shed, they sweat, and that’s just when they’re functioning normally. So much of our bodies seem to have reached late stage evolution in spite of their design, rather than because of it. If you (or a chiropractor) turns your neck too sharply, there’s a bone that can shut off the blood supply to the brain. The hypothalamus has to make antidiuretic hormone; otherwise we wee ourselves to death. And no one’s ever looked at the prostate and considered nominating it for a design award. The whole system looks like it was designed by committee, after a boozy work lunch, and shortly before knocking off early for the long weekend.
Every now and then, though, they are capable of doing amazing things, and feeling amazing things. Amidst the foot fungus, the heart break and the treachery of ageing, they sing, they dance, they paint, they laugh. Perhaps bodies are to be forgiven for their shortcomings?
Bring your being to Brunswick’s Howler bar to witness a debate between scientists and comedians whom all have a vested interest in the topic.
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