(urth) The green man is a fake

[Lee Berman]

>Exactly how does evolution allow for that?
 
>Jeff Wilson: The same way it apparently allows for contemporary humans to have wisdom 
>teeth, appendixes, male nipples, sense of humor, musical aptitude, etc.
 
Not quite getting your examples. But perhaps not fair since you are dwelling into my own 
field of expertise. Sense of humor and musical aptitude seem to be social adaptations which 
are fully funciontal in our modern human world.
 
Wisdom teeth are a problem for modern humans because our jaws are shorter than our ancestors'
while number of teeth is a more persistent trait. 
 
Male nipples are a product of gestational development. We all start with the same basic template
and our parts are formed into male and female by presence or absence of testosterone derivatives.
Penis/clitoris, scrotal sac/vulva, testes/ovaries, nipples, all have their male/female analogs. 
(that's why a boy baby's testes start in the abdomen and drop down later).
 
Now appendix is on the right track! It is a vestigal structure, left over from when we were herbivores
and (like cows) needed that extra "stomach" to digest a high fibrous diet. 
 
But an appendix is a little, shrimpy, non-functional thing. The green man seems far more evolutionarily
distanced from us humans than a leaf-eating ape is. Maybe having some ill-formed calciferous stumps
left in his mouth would make Wolfe's evolutionary point.
 
But having fully formed, nice looking teeth makes the opposite argument. As do the outrageous scientific
contortions needed to justify algae-based human life.  
 
The green man, as he admits, is lying. He is not evolved, he is not the future of humanity. He is the Trickster.
His very name, Green Man, invokes a satanic (to Christians) pagan deity. A horned god of the vine.
 
Jeff, you know what I'm talking about. I understand the annoyance of its global impact on the story. But,
there it is.