I knew that the smallest bone in the human body was located in the ear. In high-school biology, we called it the stirrup, but its anatomical name is stapes. And I knew that it was a clever bone, and critical to the function of hearing. But I’d never heard of the stapedius, the tiny muscle attached to it. With its auditory companion, the tensor-tympani, these muscular-marvels function to quickly dampen any sound that is too loud. Clever!

Could these muscles have been introduced by chance over time? Evolutionary biologists describe them as an adaptation, meaning that the basic auditory organ is in place, and then these little muscles are added over time. And I guess in response to a world of loud noises, otherwise, why else the new venture? (But how does that thunderous request for dampening get genetically added to our DNA, in order to be passed on to future persons?)

Silly question. I should just be thankful. And to say, how very thoughtful of evolution. To think of something so dreadfully clever, …. no, don’t say ‘think’, because evolution is a non-personal force…. and to create it…. no, don’t say ‘create’, because that implies ‘you know who’,…. ah…. to produce it with incredible precision, and to position it so wonderfully well,… no, don’t say ‘wonderfully’, because that is emotive and too suggestive of design…. and to make it work involuntary, automatically, and quickly….. no, don’t say ‘involuntary’, because that undermines the evolutionary program….. um, so, thanks… I think.