Problem:
When a neurone fires, it sends an electrical signal that jumps down the axon via the nodes of Ranvier very rapidly. At a synaptic junction, chemical brownian diffusion signalling with receptor surface proteins is relatively slow and is often exploited by venoms and susceptible to toxins (on the plus side it's the reason a lot of medical drugs work.). It seems flawed for evolution to have selected for this rather than some alternative quicker and more direct electrical interface.
Question: Why are chemical synaptic interfaces used in higher organisms at the synaptic junction?
Please suggest your views if anyone knows about it.