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RSwordsman t1_iu1kdo1 wrote

Evolution selected for men with two. Other than the general fact that humans have "bilateral symmetry" in which a lot of features on one side are mirrored on the other, it helps to have redundant systems. If men mostly only had one and something caused it to fail before they have kids, their genetic line ends. Someone with two might still be able to reproduce if one malfunctioned, or if both are somewhat low-functioning on their own.

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TelletubbiesPoop t1_iu1ku37 wrote

One is a back up. Remember the saying "one is none, two is one." It's good to be always prepared

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Slypenslyde t1_iu1kucb wrote

Redundancy. That's why we have 2 of a lot of things that function just fine with only 1.

If a creature gets injured, there's a chance only 1 of the 2 will be injured and that creature will still be able to have kids. So at some point maybe some ancestral creatures had only one testicle, but those were more likely to be unable to reproduce so they got kicked out of the gene pool by creatures with 2. Humans inherited this trait from whatever creatures developed this over millions of years.

It's possible nature never tried 3, but more likely other factors meant creatures with 3 didn't have advantages or had a disadvantage over creatures with 2. I can think of one that relates to a flaw in baseball: a man with 4 balls cannot walk!

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[deleted] t1_iu1n05f wrote

Because if something is important, you have two of them.

Just like how people have two ears and one mouth...

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Zhoenish t1_iu1pi2a wrote

Same structures as ovaries, with slightly different receptors that are formed by and respond to different genetic instructions and hormones. Since in females, switching off of egg development and release from month to month works well, we have two of these in the template. In males, they become testicles and form sperm. Having redundancy in reproductive organs helps ensure your offspring 1. happen, and 2. pass on the genes to keep two of these.

Mammals, eh? At least we didn't keep the more than one pair of nipples.

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frnb t1_iu1pyuk wrote

Replying to swansom77 (#268,796)

So very true. I was glad I had two 15 years ago. Lost a battle to Testicular Cancer but won the war for my life (and my other bollock) thank god.

I was offered a replacement at the time but refused upon the basis of lack of Bluetooth connectivity available on the silicone replacement.

When I was shown the tray of ball options by my consultant I actually said “do you have one with a Bluetooth radio”.

I thought I was being funny.

He just cleared his throat and put the tray away.

True story.

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Highlanddrip t1_iu1qoh1 wrote

Spread your genes! They do function similarly. The only thing I can think of medically I’m a doctor) is that the right testie actually drains back to the venous system differently than the left so we can catch some pathologies like RCC on just the left nut, lol

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patrdesch t1_iu1rtc7 wrote

Why do you have two kidneys, or why do women have two ovaries? Redundancy of vital systems is an evolutionary advantage, as if one fails, the other is still there to perform the task, even if at a reduced effectiveness.

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