Hey there!
Welcome to Life Noggin!
I know I can ask some weird questions sometimes…
Okay… a lot of the time.
When Triangle Bob and I were at the dentist the other day, and that big scary light was
shining in our eyes, I had another question.
Quick, spit out your mouthwash, Triangle Bob.
To the Block-cave!
Isn't this neat?
I have so much space underneath my house!
Anyway, I was wondering, what would happen if when you were born, all of your organs
were on the outside?
Don't give me that face Triangle Bob.
We're gonna learn something!
There’s actually a serious health condition called gastroschisis that’s a step in that
direction.
This birth defect, which affects the abdominal wall, is where a baby’s intestines are found
outside of their body.
Their intestines will usually come out near the belly button, through a hole that can
vary in size, with other organs sometimes born outside as well, like the baby’s stomach
or liver.
Soon after a baby with gastroschisis is born, they need to have surgery in order to place
their organs inside their body and repair the hole.
Even after the surgery, infants can have problems with eating, digesting food, and absorbing
nutrients.
But that’s just if you’re born with some of your organs outside your body.
What if /all/ of your organs were on the outside when you were born?
Assuming you didn’t die and your organs still went on working normally, which is a
pretty big assumption to make, it would cause your skeleton to lose some of its functionality.
That’s because one of its many functions is to /protect/ your organs.
It would have a much harder time doing that if your organs were all on the outside.
Take your ribcage for example.
These long, curved bones partially enclose and protect what's usually inside your chest,
including many vital organs like your heart and your lungs.
This is a good kinda cage!
Though, to be fair, your ribs can be somewhat delicate themselves.
Broken ribs are pretty dangerous since they can puncture the organs they were supposed
to be protecting, so maybe it wouldn’t be /all/ bad if your organs weren’t inside
of your ribcage.
But I would kinda still prefer everything all nicely tucked away.
Oh!?
Am I leaking binary again?
Ugh that is embarrassing!
Sorry!
And don’t even get me started on that noggin of yours.
Your brain, one of the most complex organs in your body, is typically protected by the
bones of your skull and a covering of three thin membranes called meninges.
Beyond that, your brain also sloshes around in something called cerebrospinal fluid, which
not only helps to protect and cushion your think-box, but also removes waste products.
So yeah, your brain might be pretty awesome, but it’s more on the soft and squishy side
and not really meant to be exposed to this harsh, cruel world of yours.
Yes, we’ll take two of those hats please!
This bowler hat should do the trick!
Perfect!
Everyone wears bowler hats right?
Anyway.
Now, these are just some of the things that you’d probably have to account for if all
of your organs were born on the outside.
There would probably be a lot more!
For now, I’m just happy that my animator decided to keep all that stuff safely hidden
under these gorgeous rectangular blocks of mine.
Are there any other bodily oddities that you want us to talk about?
Let me know in the comment section below!
Curious to know what you would look like if you didn't evolve?
Check out this video!
Beyond you likely not being as intelligent, without evolution, it’s possible that you’d
be walking around on all fours.
It’s actually pretty unique that humans typically stand up and walk around on two
legs!
As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!