The differences between a rat and a lawyer include the lawyer's cephalic flexure, or "head bend." The long axis of the rat's head lines up with the long axis of the rat's body; the rat's gaze direction lines up with his spine. Whereas, when standing, the lawyer's gaze direction is at right angles to her spine.
When you hold your arm and your hand out straight in front of you, your hand lines up with your arm like the rat's head lines up with his body. Whereas, the front of the human brain is related to the human body the way your hand is related to your arm, when you hold your arm straight up but with your hand bent, with palm parallel to the floor.
[The cephalic flexure is a potential source of confusion in neuroanatomy, because the relationship between reference systems changes as you move around it. At the base of the brain, the ventral/dorsal (front/back) directions of the brain line up with the ventral/dorsal directions of our body; at the front of the brain, the ventral/dorsal directions of the brain line up with the inferior/superior (bottom/top or foot/head) directions of our body.]
I saw a few fast cyclists on road bikes this morning, all low, flat-backed, and aerodynamic. To me they looked like atavistic critters, human seeking to deny their cephalic flexure, and line up their gaze direction with their spine. I suppose that practice is good because, in the short run, it makes 'em faster, and in the long run, it provides business for chiropractors.
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