Short read: Why we have hair on our heads

“We were once covered head to foot in hair. And then we lost most of it but kept the mop up top. Why the hairy scalp? What scientific purpose does it serve? “ Filmmaker Alexander Trowbridge investigates. In this video he says that the main function of hair is “protecting the head’s precious contents…beyond protecting you from impact, hair also acts as insulation and protects your brain in very cold temperatures…At high temperatures hair keeps your brain from overheating because it has a tremendous amount of surface area and it also serves as a sponge for sweat and that facilitates evaporative cooling….Hair also protects our brain from UV rays and solar radiation.”

Even more interestingly we learn that hair in human beings also serve the same purpose as whiskers on a cat: “There are plenty of nerve endings on your scalp and these are very sensitive to movements in your hair…If something is crawling on your hair, the nerves in your scalp give you an early warning of a potential threat.”

Hair is also intended to attract the opposite sex – good hair is a sign of fitness. So why then do we have so many bald people? This video says that the elongated lifespans that modern humans live is not what nature intended for us. As a result once hair has served its purposes early in our lives (of helping us attract the opposite sex), it has no further evolutionary purpose! So, it drops away.

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