What's the purpose of the hair on your head growing indefinitely?
Asked by
Spargett (
5395
)
January 2nd, 2008
Why just your head (and face for men) and not other parts of our body? What determines when the hair stops growing on other parts of our body. How does the follicle know when the correct length has been reached? Even if you cut it, it’ll still grow back to the same pre-determined length.
Are there any other animals who’s hair will grow indefinitely if not cut?
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3 Answers
It is because of clothes. Our bodies decided that is was a waste to grow hair under the warm things we drape over our selves, that is why body hair is shorter and sparse. Most of heat loss is through our head, so we need more hair there to keep warm. This is all controlled by our genes, but I do not know why our hair continues to grow on our heads without stopping at a pre-determined length.
Imagine if we could modify our genes to select our hair length. That would be a disaster to barbers!
Doesn’t head hair actually stop at a certain length, different for each person? I think people just often choose to cut it shorter than that for er, cultural issues. Maybe it goes back to our caveman ancestors demonstrating their hair-cutting tool technology – we seem to still be impressed by that if TV ads are any indication: “Oooh, Alberto! Your electric razor is SO high-tech!” ;-)
Your head (and face) hair doesn’t actually grow indefinitely. There are a few determining factors and it’s different for everyone. Some people can only grow the hair on their head as long as their shoulders…others to their ankles. It all depends. Look here for some interesting info.
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