What? So you're telling me that if I'm not focusing MY ENTIRE MENTAL ENERGY into thinking about the fact that I am currently eating or drinking something, I'm gonna choke and probably die or something?
It's just like this: Me drinking water: "Yes this is a nice cup of water and I am relaxed hmmmm I think I will let my mind wander a bit while I relax drinking this water. Maybe I can think abou-" CHOKES AND FUCKING DIES
Like come the fuck on why is the human body like this. You should be able to fucking tell if something's going down my throat. You do so many other things automatically WHY DO YOU NEED ME TO DEDICATE MY THOUGHTS TO DRINKING/EATING TO MAKE THINGS GO DOWN THROAT WITHOUT KILLING ME GOD DAMMIT
If I remember right, basically no other animal has the same problem with eating/drinking and breathing at the same time, including other primates and even human babies. It’s seemingly associated with the ability to speak, and becomes a problem for humans around the age they start speaking.
Or I heard something vaguely similar years ago and it’s bounced around in my brain until I produced this now and it’s totally wrong.
In other mammals, the combine nasal/throat setup makes their sense of smell and taste better. The combined stimulation of smell and taste receptors increases flavor notes in food (like maybe you need specific nutrients or need to spit out minute amount of toxins), and it allows mammals to more easily track things by scent.