Why does the sun burn my eyes?

by sabastious 46 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  unshackled

  Your description of Evolution is as cold as ice.

  Ha...okay I'll work on dressing it up a bit. But really...the points I was trying to offer were:

  1) why would we assume we should be able to look at the sun NOW? Maybe we're STILL in the process of developing "better" eyes. Doesn't mean, as you said, natural selection ignored what rightly cannot be ignored.

  2) natural selection doesn't neccassarily work in a straight line, molding and forming a perfect species. What is our current whale started in the water, went to land, and then BACK to the water again. We know this because whales still have visages of their leg bones.
• 

  sabastious

  1) why would we assume we should be able to look at the sun NOW? Maybe we're STILL in the process of developing "better" eyes. Doesn't mean, as you said, natural selection ignored what rightly cannot be ignored.

  It seems logical to me that, at some point, we should be fully compatible with the sun defined as unharmed from it in any scanario. Albiet, it is also logical to say that it hasen't happened yet because not enough time has passed.

  -Sab
• 

  sabastious

  2) natural selection doesn't neccassarily work in a straight line, molding and forming a perfect species. What is our current whale started in the water, went to land, and then BACK to the water again. We know this because whales still have visages of their leg bones.

  The reason why it doesn't work in a straight line is because the variance needed to fuel it is random: the mutations. I guess you could say that Sun Glasses are part of our evolution and solved the problem of the sun being too bright.

  -Sab
• 

  jay88

  Why was Mr.Spock stronger than humans?
• 

  sabastious

  Why was Mr.Spock stronger than humans?

  Because his species did away with their emotions so they are always working out at the gym.

  -Sab
• 

  Lore

  Maybe the reflex is, but why does it hurt us in the first place?

  By "hurt us" do you mean "Why does it cause pain" or do you mean "Why does it damage your eyes"

  It causes pain because that's your body's way of saying: "DONT LOOK AT THAT!" That's part of the protective measures that most animals have evolved over the years.

  The reason it damages your eyes is because the sun is emitting lots of UV light. UV particles can actually slam into your dna molocules and rip them apart. Your skin is able to react to this and repair itself but your eyes cannot.

  So there are really 3 good ways of dealing with this problem:

  1 Evolve a thin layer of something over the eyes that blocks UV light, but lets all other light through. Like this thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_filter (This still wouldn't prevent the initial loss of sight from using up all your rods and cones, but you wouldn't be permantly damaged)

  2 Evolve the ability for your eyes to repair the damage caused just like your skin can. (Note this wouldn't prevent the damage, so you'd still be blind for a while.)

  3 Evolve an instinct that prevents the creature from ever looking at the sun to begin with. (This also solves the rod and cone issue.)

  4 Any other clever solution I didn't think of.

  Now to you or me, if we were going to sit down and design a critter. I'd probably go with solution 1, 2 AND 3. But evolution doesn't plan anything. So as soon as the animal evolved the reflex to look away, that was all that needed done.

  Until there is some selective pressure that makes it beneficial to be able to look directly at the sun, it's unlikely to change.
• 

  unshackled

  I guess you could say that Sun Glasses are part of our evolution and solved the problem of the sun being too bright.

  Well that is a good point. I wonder if our eyes actually will become more "sun resistant". We, at our current state, spend most of our time indoors...well most of us. There was a time when we were out in the elements and sun a greater majority of our days. At some point we discovered shelters, caves...then built shelters, houses. If anything, our eyes are far less exposed to the sun in our modern world.

  This is an interesting short article that relates: What's Next for Human Evolution?
  It points out that...

  "1. Evolution does not imply progress.
  There is so much misunderstanding about what evolution means. The first thing to remember is that evolution does not lead to better organisms."
• 

  sabastious

  Maybe humans will never become immune to the sun's harmful effects because before we evolve for it we will already have created technology to protect ourselves.

  Fascinating!

  -Sab
• 

  sabastious

  Now to you or me, if we were going to sit down and design a critter. I'd probably go with solution 1, 2 AND 3. But evolution doesn't plan anything. So as soon as the animal evolved the reflex to look away, that was all that needed done.

  Hmmm, I guess the fact that our eyes aren't immune to the sun is strong evidence that we were allowed to form instead of being manufactured.

  -Sab
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  Our eyes were created to be quite compatible with the sun, Sab. You see, there was once a thick canopy of water vapor covering the earth and so we could look any direction we wanted without concern for frying our retina or getting skin cancer. We didn't even need sunglasses!

  Then invisible studs somehow came to earth and became UNinvisible and impregnated our women. The children born from them were GIANTS who would go around kicking all sorts of ass, raping the horses and riding off on the women, that sort of thing.

  So God finally got so pissed off about it that he decided to pull the plug on the water canopy and just drown everyone except his one true friend. See, there was this guy Noah who would do ANY STUPID THING God asked of him. So when God told him to build a giant box, he did it. When God told him to collect a pair of most animals and seven of a bunch of others and load them into the box, he did it. When God told him to do all of this on dry land because he was going to make it rain like Pacman Jones in a scrip club, he did it.

  Anyway, the water canopy flooded the earth and ever since that time the sun is no longer blocked and it burns our eyes and skin. Because God didn't create us with the ability to evolve, we're stuck with buying either overpriced shades that we will lose or sit on and break, or cheap crappy shades that are ugly and will fall apart in a matter of weeks.

  It stands to reason, then, that in the new system God will put the water canopy back, or re-create us with bodies that can tolerate the sun. We will all be naked and not know it and won't get sunburned. Plus there's the pet lion or panda we all will have, too! Isn't that happifying?