Reddit reviews Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes

There isn't a single answer to this question, and it isn't necessarily even true in all cases. It is true that we deal with many illnesses more than other animals, but there are certainly exceptions. But I will touch on a few places where you are right.

Your example of drinking dirty water is actually an easy one-- We are too clean. Literally, the fact that we treat our water so effectively means that our immune systems aren't robust enough to handle the microbes that other animals-- and people who grew up drinking that dirty water-- can handle without a problem.

But there are other types of illnesses that we are much more prone to, such as auto-immune disorders. There are a few auto-immune diseases that effect various animal species, but they are far less prevalent than they are in humans. The same is true of allergies. Many types of animals can have allergies, but they are more prevalent in humans than in most other species.

We also get head colds a lot more than other species, for a really simple-- and really stupid if you believe we were designed-- reason: Our nasal sinuses drain upwards. Because of this, our sinuses don't drain automatically, and rely on cilia to carry mucous away, but a sinus infection can cause the whole system to break down leading to a head cold. Other animals don't have this issue because their sinuses drain downwards. Here's Nathan Lents explaining what happened in his book Human Errors:


> But why is the drainage system at the top of the maxillary sinuses instead of below? The evolutionary history of the human face holds the answer. As primates evolved from earlier mammals, the nasal features underwent a radical change in structure and function. In many mammals, smell is the single most important sense, and the structure of the entire snout was designed to optimize this sense. This is why most mammals have elongated snouts: to accommodate huge air-filled cavities chock-full of odor receptors. As our primate ancestors evolved, however, there was less reliance on smell and more reliance on vision, touch, and cognitive abilities. Accordingly, the snout regressed, and the nasal cavities got smushed into a more compact face.

> The evolutionary rearrangement of the face continued as apes evolved from monkeys. The Asian apes—gibbons and orangutans—simply ditched the upper set of cavities altogether; their lower sinuses are smaller and drain in the direction of gravity. The African apes—chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans—all share the same type of sinuses. However, in the other apes, the sinuses are larger and more cavernous, and they are joined to each other by wide openings, which facilitates unrestricted flow of both air and mucus. Not so with humans.

> Nowhere are there more differences between humans and nonhuman primates than in the facial bones and skull. Humans have much smaller brows, smaller dental ridges, and flatter, more compact faces. In addition, our sinus cavities are smaller and disconnected from one another, and the drainage ducts are much skinnier. Evolutionarily speaking, humans gained nothing by having those drainage pathways squeezed into narrow tubes. This was likely a side effect of making room for our big brains.

> This rearrangement produced a suboptimal design that has left us more susceptible to colds and painful sinus infections than perhaps any other animal. But as far as poor design goes, this evolutionary mishap is nothing compared to what lurks just a bit farther down in the body: a nerve that should drive straight from the brain to the neck but instead takes a few dangerous detours along the way.

That book deals directly with your question, and addresses a lot of the reasons why we deal with certain illnesses more. I would definitely recommend it if you want to know more.

Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes by Nathan H. Lents is a great read too. It's not directly about religion, but it sure puts the "intelligent design" idea to rest.

There’s a great book about the genetic defects of humans. I imagine the emperor using genetic engineering to fix them all

Apologies for the blaaah link. Will edit when I get to my desktop

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Errors-Panorama-Glitches-Pointless/dp/1328589269/