Alopecians are more evolved!

I had a thought recently that has given me a little lift of my spirits when I'm feeling down or strange about not having any hair on my body. I've been a student of evolution for many years, and have enjoyed reading books (by, for your reference, authors including Stephen J. Gould, Richard Dawkins, David Quammen, Niles Eldridge, and others....) I've been particularly interested in human, or "hominid" evolution. Here's what I think:

Alopecians are not "defective" or deficient in any sense. On the contrary, we're actually in the vanguard of human evolution...the next step! Our species has been called "The Naked Ape" (a book by Desmond Morris). If you look at other primates on our particular evolutionary tree branch, the trend in hominid evolution is clearly toward LESS hair - humans have a lot less hair than our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees (who share something like 98% of our DNA).

I think that in the future, Homo sapiens will be totally hairless. Evolution is about adaptation to environment. As traits become more useful in terms of survival and reproduction, those traits are passed on. As traits become less useful, they are modified or discarded entirely. For example, the land-dwelling distant ancestors of whales used to have legs and hoofs and hair.

Humans no longer need hair covering their bodies. It serves no evolutionary advantage in a world where we no longer need fur for warmth. (And, since so many women and men wax and shave in order to be MORE attractive to sexual partners, being hairy probably doesn't convey a reproductive advantage anymore.)

So, this is my theory and I'm sticking with it. I am a highly evolved being...an example of the future of humankind!

( ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Finley on January 26, 2018 at 10:05pm

I like the theory but alopecia has also attacked my fingernails, lashes that protect eyes from damage, nose hair that filters germs and collects condensation from my breathing (so my nose looks drippy often) and the worst of all delicate hairs in my ears that effects hearing. Don't get me wrong, I like how I look and for the most part I don't mind having alopecia, but I can't exactly call it highly evolved either. It's the little things that are a pain in the butt.

Permalink Reply by Mary on January 26, 2018 at 11:48pm

True enough!  The nose hairs are evolutionarily useful.  As for the hair in our ears, if you mean the "hair" inside the inner ear that is responsible for our sense of hearing, fortunately, those are not affected by Alopecia Areata.  They are not true hairs, but are cilia.  If Alopecia caused deafness and not just what is seen as "cosmetic" effects, I'll be there would be a cure by now.

Permalink Reply by Finley on January 27, 2018 at 12:25am

Yes you are so right that they are not the same type of hair, and I don't know whether cilia is affected or not. I never really thought of lashes as the same type of hair either, and nails surely aren't. I think it's a mystery how this condition works, especially since its so different within each of us.

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