Jerry Bergman writes:
The human body begins as a sphere called a blastocyst and gradually becomes more elongated as it develops. Some structures, such as the carotid duct, are simply obliterated during development, and some are eliminated and replaced. Other structures, including the recurrent laryngeal nerve, move downward as development proceeds. The movement occurs because the neck's formation and the body's elongation during fetal development force the heart to descend from the cervical (neck) location down into the thoracic (chest) cavity.
This portion is followed by details on the moving of the organs and the RLN growth to accommodate said movement.
Basically, the Greatest Designer (G_D)could not design the human (and all other tetrapod) gestation system such that the RLN would not have to take the round-a-bout route once the fetus was ready to be born.
I find this confusing in light of the fact that G_D is suppose to have all knowledge and unlimited resources.
I would think that a good designer would optimize the design for the form that the mechanism would be in for the longest amount of time vice the 9 months it would be in development.
Sorry. I read what Jerry had to say and it still doesn't look like a good design to me. But, hey, I'm only an engineer.