why do humans have long hair on their head? monkeys don't.... what was the evolutionary need for it?

Question

If were once apes, and we evolved to match our needs, like bigger feet to stand on our legs and so on.... why did humans start to grow long hair? what was the social or environmental need that made us evolve into needing long hair?

Answer 1

Humans have a thicker neo-cortex in the brain, the layer of gray matter where thought and higher intelligence reside. Long hair would serve an insulation from extremes of cold and heat and have survival value for the most intelligent humans, especially until they had offspring. Teenagers lose a huge number of brain cells during the period their hormones are in upheaval and they are becoming adult. Therefore the brain needs special protection at least until it is finally stable. Just using my cortex.

Answer 2

Seems like a difficult question...
I guess it has something to do with sexual selection. I don't know why we lost most of our hair in the first place, but long hair could evolve as a substitute for that. I mean, a strong and shiny fur is an indicator of good health, and may have been used by our ancestors in mate selection. A healthy partner is more likely to have good genes for our offspring. And as we lost our fur, we could grew long hair instead; in the first place, hair on the head was maybe kept as a protection from the sun, and it grew longer because it's easier to spot health in longer hair. Long shiny hair is more impressive than short shiny hair. I guess. Take this as speculation :)

Answer 3

There is a contentious theory of evolution called the aquatic ape theory, it suggests that at some time in our past we went back into the sea, this would help to explain why our bodies are mostly naked, we distribute fat evenly all over and walk upright, noone of these are features shared by other land mammals.
There is a precedent... Dolphins and whales evolved to be mamals on land but then went back into the sea, perhaps our ancestors did as well, but stayed closer to the shores, hence standing upright and why hair on our heads would be retained in order to protect the only part of the body that was almost constantly exposed to the sun.
Another support of this is the swimming new born baby effect, a new born child can orient its self in water and move a small amount, on land it just kinda lies there, the offspring of all land mamals can move themselves around a bit as soon as they are born (or shortly after) so why cant we?

there are a lot of other supporting arguments (but sadly no evidence) it is a theory I really like because of all the evolutionary oddities it answers, including why we still have hair on our heads but not the rest of our body.

Answer 4

Mustard is a secret bulge-buster. The item boosts your metabolism and raises natural ephadrine, the hormone that will burns fat. According to Jeya Henry, professor of human nutrition with Oxford Brookes University, just a tablespoon as part of your food can reduce a flabby waist by 20 percent!

Answer 5

The reason we have hair on our heads at all is believed to protect our head from the sun. Because we stand up right on two legs and not horizontal on four legs like most other animals (including apes), our heads (and not our backs) are the most vulnerable to direct sun rays. The hair on our heads protects our skulls (and therefore the brain) from intense heat from the sun, and it keeps our heads warmer in winter. Since humans walk upright, the only other part of our body that would be vulnerable to the elements would be our shoulders as the extend outwards further than our heads. Long hair would, in theory, offer some form of protection from the sun to this area.

Answer 6

Usually, which too long for me. I believe it depends on the guy and also his face though. Certain guys can easily pull off long hair and other folks can't.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

People who plan their weekly meals will be more successful at losing weight than people that don’t. Plan your dishes to add in healthy carbs such as nice potato and wholegrain pasta, greens and lean proteins, buy the many ingredients in advance and don’t be tempted to nibble on out or order in.

Answer 9

The organ with the hardest job is situated in your head. By evolving, you have given it even more importance and so it grew to be the rational central unit of your body. Because the protection lairs are so thin, they do not shelter as well as thy should, so, by the law of compensation, hair grew longer and stronger on man's head, to protect the brain from cold and sun. Monkeys spend their time in trees and they usually live in warm areas. Primates that do coupe with bad weather or spend a lot of time in the sun have sufficiently big hair on their head.

Answer 10

Chewing your food thoroughly won't make digestion easier, but will allow your body time to recognise when it's actually full, thus preventing eating too much.