Hi - I'm new here

[philiplaos]

Is anyone there?

 

I ended up here because I have lately been 'googling' a lot in an attempt to find the answers to questions I have had for years. Usually, Google leads me to the answers, but not in this latest case. Maybe I'll post the question here as it might get more responses than in other forums. If not, maybe someone can point me to the most appropriate forum.

 

Question is: What is the evolutionary/biological reason for human hair continuing to grow? This site has suggested reasons for curly hair, hair loss, pubic hair, etc., but not for very long hair. Presumably, early humans would not have been easily able to cut their hair and so it would have continued to grow to the point where it would, one would think, become an encumberance and even dangerous.

 

The only guess I can make is that it has something to do with sexual selection in the same way as peacocks with more and bigger feathers attract more mating partners than others with fewer, shorter feathers, even though the larger feathers make it almost impossible for the bird to fly. Longer hair in humans, therefore, somehow indicating better genes.

 

But that's probably wrong.

[Turtle]

welcome aboard philip. interesting questions. i thought of horses & how their hooves grow continuously; they are essentially the same material. :shrug: anyway, i really don't know, but i am here, & it all sounds like fodder for a new thread.

[GAHD]

Being a long-haired individual myself, I can tell you that human hair tends to be pulled out by the environment after a certain length; so I don't think it could grow to a length where it would actually encumber you before it naturally ripped loose.

 

Beyond that I personally enjoy my long hair's cover from the sun during summer (even if it heats up, it protects me from sunburn to the shoulders) and it's warmpth in the winter.

 

hope that helps you a bit.

[sanctus]

Welcome. I actually had a discussion with a friend if there is a maximum hairlength, different for every person. He said yes, I said no. Then I asked once a hairdresser and she said he was right. So, to beat the woman with longest hair it doesn't only depend on how much you care about your hair, but it is also genetic...

 

Gahd, I rmember well my long hair, had them for around 14 years, but then I lost too many and had to cut them :shrug:. Long hair is sooo much cooler, because it is much less work under the premise that you like long showers anyway.