Why do male humans have two testicles and not one? or three?

I think having two testicles can ensure some kind of backup when one testicle is damaged and there is no space for a third :p

Lol. Reminds me of this game I played where the protagonist’s dad got one of his testicles blown off, and in the ending of the game when it was suggested to him to go to the hospital he just goes, naaah I’ll staple it up when I get home. Hell you only need one, anyway.

Why do women have two breasts and mostly not three??

Symmetry? A back up system?

”.And they came in pairs…” Not relevant but popped in my head… One is lonely, two is a pair, and three is a crowd.

Having three boobs would be cool.

Where would you put it @Symbeline

In a jar. I’d say hi to it sometimes.

I know a guy who had only one testicle. He was a friend of my brother’s. Or maybe he had three. I forget, but for sure he didn’t have the regulation two.

Why do most of the rest of us have two? Why do you have two eyes? Two ears? I would say it has to do with genetics, and maybe something to do with symmetry.

And it may be nature’s way of giving us a spare in case we lose one. (Owwww).

Or maybe because that’s that’s way God did it.

There’s no actual answer to this question as there is no owner’s manual for our bodies.

Sorry, @Unbroken I just read your response, “Symmetry? A back up system?”
Unbroken seems to have hot the nail on the head.

Back to my childhood:

It flies through space and has three balls:

ET the extra testicle.

Stupid joke that I found hilarious when I was fifteen, or so.

Because if there were only 1 or if there were 3 then God wouldn’t have been involved in the creation of the universe.— ref.

We seem to have one or two of body parts. Even our single nose has two nostrils. Exterior single body parts tend to be on our middle, like the nose, mouth, and belly button. Since symmetry is pleasing to the eye, maybe that is part of the explanation. Although, I am not sure I would say testicles are pleasing to the eye. Having two does provide a back up, just like two ovaries (testicles are the same embryonic tissue as ovaries) and two kidneys, and even two eyes and ears, and so on.

Since reproduction is so important I can understand having two – one as back up. Three or more only offers marginal back up beyond two. Any physical event big enough to take out 2 will likely take out all 3. Any disease that infects two will likely infect 3.

Also they are not so large so they’re easy to package and store:
“Take two, they’re small.”

Hey, did I just inadvertently explain why we have one penis? :-)

Because advanced multicellular organisms are bilaterally symmetric.

An heir and a spare.

One is for backup, because God in His wisdom anticipated motorcyclists.

@janbb I was going to say that!

Humans tend to be somewhat symmetrical. And with two, one can hang out behind the other when needed for aerodynamics. How they hangin? One behind the other for speed.

We have many paired organs. Even our brains have two parts, though they are connected by the corpus callosum, which allows the hemispheres to communicate with each other. Survivability and the likelihood of reproduction are increased because of duplication.

Well, there was this guy that had three testicles, and when women felt that, they tended to freak out. He got very depressed and went to the doctor to see if they could remove one of them. The doctors really didn’t want to, because of the risks involved, so they sent him home to think things over and consider the risks. He left the doctors office and got a cab. The cabbie noticed he was really bummed and asked what was wrong. The guy responded between the two of us we have five testicles. The cabbie looked up and said what you only got one?

@Adirondackwannabe Heheh I heard that one before, a classic lol.

@Mimishu1995 Yep, having a third might make walking more difficult. Instead of a side-to-side gait, you would probably have more of a fore-aft one and, if they all got to swinging in sync. it could throw off your stride.
@Symbeline This one is for you.
@whitenoise , @Adirondackwannabe, @janbb :)
@ninjacolin why not? We have monotheism with a holy trinity to cover all the bases.
@JLeslie Are testicles pleasing to the eye. Another question for another day?
@LuckyGuy is that the engineer talking? And, one penis vs two benefits or disadvantages yet another question for another day!
@Espiritus_Corvus and bicycle crossbars on bikes designed for males but not females. Are we masochistic or just have a warped sense of humor?
@Bill1939 but how do we counter the argument put forth by Robin Williams that ”“God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time.”

DUDE lol…it’s real!

And speaking of two testicles… Most of you know I have friends in a Prostate cancer support group. One of the guys had an awful operation and had his bladder sphincter, prostate, testicles… all removed. Awful… I can’t imagine.

He had an artificial sphincter installed for bladder control and another pump installed so he could get an erection. The control bulbs fit inside Mr Wrinkles. Squeeze the right bulb to get an erection. Squeeze the left bulb to urinate.

He said he is going to get a tattoo in the appropriate area that says “Come and Go”. :-)

It’s a good thing humor is not stored in the prostate.

One of the earliest evolutionary ancestors was a flatworm. Every bilateral creature since then is thought to be descended from this one ancestor- that means fish, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc. So we have two eyes, butterflies have two wings, and guys have two balls.

@Haleth I don’t think I have ever had my testicles compared to butterfly wings before. How, um, sweet.