lily: Hey, according to the wikipedia article on "Permanent Teeth", it looks like humans are evolving to grow multiple sets of teeth.

Isn't it weird how starfish can regenerate everything but humans can't? How did evolution manage to lose that nifty trick?

Oh man, I haven't talked to Alan since graduation. Why are his speech patterns popping up now?

Andy: I started using Listerine recently, actually. It's very cool.

I noticed, Lily, that you stopped capitalizing your name. What spurred the change?

I don't think you are talking Alan-esque at all.

Erwa: Cool! I also heard humans are gradually losing their wisdom teeth. Silly vestigial organs.

Meh, must be the complexity of humans relative to starfish. I wish my OS programming assignments next spring are as easy as "hello world" programs.

Lol, I also think 'oh man' is something I say a lot, both online and in RL.

I have a big bottle of Listerine at home, which my roommate Gustavo gave to me last summer when he left the apartment in Hoboken. I have barely used it, but I think I'll utilize it as a mouthwash first thing when I wake up in the future.

Lol, it was just that one line "yooo" that particularly sounded Alan-esque. I worked out and ate lunch with him this past semester occasionally and he likes to say "WHAT!" and "yooo" a lot. I can hear him saying these things in my mind, with facial expressions to go with them.

Ken: Lily, I don't think humans or ancestors of humans lost the ability to regenerate all of our body parts. That trait is a distinguishing characteristic of starfish (and some others). They were one species that GAINED the ability to regenerate their body parts. There are other animals that can regenerate body parts like salamanders but I think it's more parsimonious for these species to have gained this ability, rather than for all other species to have lost it. Ancestors of humans probably evolved from fish or fish-like creatures, but starfish actually are not any type of fish. However, one way that starfish and humans are similar is that we're both deuterostomes (during development, we form our mouth second, anus first), so we are related in that way. This is all stuff I learned in evolutionary biology last semester haha.

Lily: Haha does it bother you? Here, I'll change it back.

I never got my wisdom teeth. Is this a bad sign?

I think you would be bored and understimulated if all you had to do next semester was "hello world".

Oh man. I definitely remember Alan doing the "WHAT!" and the "yooo". Weird how things stay the same.

...good call, Ken. I remember deuterosomes from AP Bio with Mango, but not that starfish and humans are both. That's weird. More in common than we'd think??

Are you a bio major? Actually, for that matter, I had no idea Andy was Materials Science. When did that happen???

Ken: Hey yeah, I'm a biology (biochemistry) major. I applied to also be a chem major but I don't know if they'll accept me or not lol.

As for Andy, I think he's been set on studying nanotechnology since high school. He always said that nanotechnology will be the future so he wants to study materials science in college.

Erwa: Wow, Ken, I never knew about this secondary definition of parsimonious until you used it above and I looked it up.

I think it's a good sign you didn't get your wisdom teeth. I think that means you're more evolutionarily advanced than humans with wisdom teeth. You probably have other evolutionary advantages as well.

You're right. I hope OS is INTENSE.

I'd like to quote Ken here: "People rarely change, and if they do, it's usually for the worse."

Andy: Lily, I didn't dislike nor like it. But I noticed that it was an aberration, so I wondered what caused it.

I haven't had my wisdom teeth either. I think it is different for everybody when the wisdom teeth grows, rather than an evolutionary advancement. Though in that view, maybe we are growing wisdom teeth because we should have lost a molar or two by now in our age? Maybe that's the purpose that evolution wanted wisdom teeth to have.

I never remembered Ken saying that, but I disagree. A lot of people change, but its neither for the better nor worse. Who are we to judge whether people are better or worse because of their change? I think its better to accept that the concept of a person is a malleable one, and while often people may change in ways you disapprove of, it doesn't necessarily mean they are "better" or "worse". I experienced this firsthand last semester.

Andy: Though that being said, I suppose there are definitely worse/better situations that can be discerned. I guess the point is that people change, and a lot of times its for the "better" too. Be true to your true self.

Erwa: I can feel my wisdom teeth starting to come in - there are these big bumps in the back of my mouth. I don't plan on getting them removed, but I hope they don't disalign all my teeth.

Lol, what you said Andy reminded me of something someone else wrote:

I've accepted that people change. For better or for worse, it's not my place to decide.

I realize that there are people and things that aren't worth my time, thoughts, or tears. Instead, I should focus on the people and things who care and matter.

I always want my own person. In the world of everyone trying to fit some standard, I want to be ____. Any effort otherwise is not worth it.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel. I agree with Andy and the quote above that we should be ourselves and try not to judge other people when they change. I like that tolerant and open-minded mindset.

Erwa: But I also feel it's sometimes hard not to judge. "Better" and "worse" are subjective qualifiers after all, and when there's change, you naturally have some reaction/opinion. I find myself judging and criticizing a lot, even if I try not to let that affect my interactions with someone.

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Lily: Wow, Ken. You're a bio major, you should know that evolution only causes things to change for the better.

I think we're biased because we like the status quo, we like constancy, so any change seems like it's for the worse. But personally, I like to think that the nature of human beings (as well as... nature...) is to make consistent and gradual improvements. We live, we learn. I'm a much better person than I was 10 years ago, that's for damn sure. But I've still got a long way to go.

Lily: Also, Erwa, I love how you cube yourself back to health. That is purely awesome, and will go into your autobiography one day. By the way, Crystal has a story to tell you.

Ken: Lily, evolution has no objective or goal, it's just an accumulation of adaptations to the present environment. "Better" depends on the environment and surroundings, and these can change quickly, and what was once advantageous may no longer be advantageous. Adaptations always lag behind environmental changes because a population just reacts to the environment. A species might takes several thousand years to adapt to some change, but by then, the adaptation might be useless or even harmful, so it was not for the better.

Lily: Haha oh dear, I think I've just been owned. Still - look how well Earth's multitude of animals have adapted to their respective environments. And if that environment shifts on them, it's still the changes that they make that help them to survive. Change is still the positive thing here - and fortunately people change a bit faster than an entire species. I still don't see change in general as a negative thing.