The Chin? Why?

It’s taken me a long time to figure out the chin as compared to other body parts.

Opposing thumb? Great idea!

Eyes, ears, nose, taste buds? They make life worth living.

Those body parts the British call the “naughty bits?” No explanation needed.

After years in the healthcare field primarily focused on anatomy, I’ve always had an appreciation for body parts. But the chin? There’s no reason that the neck couldn’t extend anteriorly and go straight from chest wall to mandible.

Oddly, the tip of the chin is called the mentum from the same root as mental; it refers to the fact that when we think we tend to cup, hold or stroke the chin. So I sat back and thought for a while.

Then it came to me.

As man evolved from the primordial soup, through the multicellular stages, eventually into a warm blooded, erect walking mammal, somehow the genes and chromosomes aligned to form the chin for one reason.

Without the chin, we could never get pillows into pillow cases, or fold bed sheets without help.

It just boggles one’s mind when you realize how amazing Mother Nature is!