Is baldness the next step in evolution?

[sokka14]

I swear there must be some logic to this argument, but for the life of me I cannot see it.

I'll answer this simply:
if we all became mole-people, or if baldness suddenly became universally attractive for thousands of years, then yes.
otherwise we won't evolve into baldness.
fucking obviously.

 

[lostclause]

Not really. To become dominant in the community it has to be beneficial in getting a mate. So unless you know a lot of girls who find baldness sexy then it's not going to happen. Also since baldness isn't expressed until old age it means that usually you can't tell when selecting a partner wether they're going to go bald or not.

 

[BoxCutter]

Hopefully, im sick of shaving my head every day.

 

[Kiutu]

Next step in evolution hopefully is evolving beyond ignorance and foolishness.

Thats a nice thought, but it would mean completely evolving out pride and ambition. Traits that are all too human and here to stay.

Neither are in themselves bad. We just need the ambitious ones to not be out for themselves and if anything it is ambition that can help reduce ignorance. Without ambitious civil rights leaders, woman would not be voting, gays would still be living in fear of police, and blacks would be second class citizens. (Just some examples in U.S.)
And pride is only bad when paired with stubbornness, and usually the bad pride is not real pride at all.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I'm waiting for mother nature to throw us a real curve ball. It's about time we got one, like an eye on our elbows or a second penis or something.

Natural selection is all but screwed for the human race anyway with the society we live in where 90% of people will pass on their genes at some point, so it'll be a while before anything noticeable happens that isn't just getting taller.

On top of the 90% thing, lower-class citizens tend to reproduce more then middle- or upper- class citizens do, which would indicate that the overll intelligence and politeness of the human race is going to diminish in the next couple hundred years.
OT: Baldness isn't likely unless people who are bald reproduce more than those with hair. After all, natural selection is just, survival of the fittest, and seeing as baldness isn't killing people before they reproduce, it really all depends on how common that gene is.

 

[Gerazzi]

I'm waiting for mother nature to throw us a real curve ball. It's about time we got one, like an eye on our elbows or a second penis or something.

Natural selection is all but screwed for the human race anyway with the society we live in where 90% of people will pass on their genes at some point, so it'll be a while before anything noticeable happens that isn't just getting taller.

On top of the 90% thing, lower-class citizens tend to reproduce more then middle- or upper- class citizens do, which would indicate that the overll intelligence and politeness of the human race is going to diminish in the next couple hundred years.
OT: Baldness isn't likely unless people who are bald reproduce more than those with hair. After all, natural selection is just, survival of the fittest, and seeing as baldness isn't killing people before they reproduce, it really all depends on how common that gene is.

Sadly enough, this is true.

really sad.

 

[Kiutu]

Neither are in themselves bad. We just need the ambitious ones to not be out for themselves and if anything it is ambition that can help reduce ignorance. Without ambitious civil rights leaders, woman would not be voting, gays would still be living in fear of police, and blacks would be second class citizens. (Just some examples in U.S.)
And pride is only bad when paired with stubbornness, and usually the bad pride is not real pride at all.

Yea but either one of those will eventually lead to greed given the right circumstances. Its all in balance though, we need the bad just as much as we need the good. A truly altruistic society would become boring, even i dont want that. We will always possess the ability to do great good and great evil. Its just who we are.

Yeah well my desire is everyone acually be equal, so if 'interesting life' must be had at the cost of that, then I'll pick boring. However if everyoen is equal, but there still be greedy people then fine (to a point) but all I am hoping is there wont be any more civil rights movements because they are not needed anymore.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I'm waiting for mother nature to throw us a real curve ball. It's about time we got one, like an eye on our elbows or a second penis or something.

Natural selection is all but screwed for the human race anyway with the society we live in where 90% of people will pass on their genes at some point, so it'll be a while before anything noticeable happens that isn't just getting taller.

On top of the 90% thing, lower-class citizens tend to reproduce more then middle- or upper- class citizens do, which would indicate that the overll intelligence and politeness of the human race is going to diminish in the next couple hundred years.
OT: Baldness isn't likely unless people who are bald reproduce more than those with hair. After all, natural selection is just, survival of the fittest, and seeing as baldness isn't killing people before they reproduce, it really all depends on how common that gene is.

Sadly enough, this is true.

really sad.

Everyone lets have one minute of silence for the future of the human race, so that this moment may forever be preserved in our minds, before the rest of the world turns to gabbering bufoons.

 

[HerrBobo]

As a balding man I will say hell to the Yeah!

 

[wewontdie11]

I'm waiting for mother nature to throw us a real curve ball. It's about time we got one, like an eye on our elbows or a second penis or something.

Natural selection is all but screwed for the human race anyway with the society we live in where 90% of people will pass on their genes at some point, so it'll be a while before anything noticeable happens that isn't just getting taller.

On top of the 90% thing, lower-class citizens tend to reproduce more then middle- or upper- class citizens do, which would indicate that the overll intelligence and politeness of the human race is going to diminish in the next couple hundred years.
OT: Baldness isn't likely unless people who are bald reproduce more than those with hair. After all, natural selection is just, survival of the fittest, and seeing as baldness isn't killing people before they reproduce, it really all depends on how common that gene is.

I so hope you were referencing this. [http://xkcd.com/603/]

 

[SenseOfTumour]

There is no selective pressure towards being bald, as most women prefer a full head of hair. (damn my receding hair line!). The next step in evolution is obviously going to be in the form of super boobs, one big boob as opposed to two smaller ones.

Also, isn't that catering to the possibility of twins?

Although my real theory is that it won't happen unless men evolve to only having one big hand

 

[Zephirius]

We still need hair to protect our vulnerable regions from dust,filth and sweat (eyes,genitals) and the hair on the rest of the body is i think for the same reason.

Im guessing our skin will just be more resistant to strong light from the sun

Maybe we peaked in the hairy evolution then. I mean, is there any hair that is unnecessary at this point? All hair serve some purpose, I guess. But we're not really discussing nose hair and pubic hair. Hair on the head doesn't really serve any other purpose than a weak impact shield from when we hit our heads on the ground. But I'd say that for every flaw that humans have, we have tried to achieve a technological solution to that. So we're taking another angle at evolution by trying to take away our flaws. Thank God for our intelligence.

Lala too lazy to read through whole thread.

I have a full head of very long hair, although I used to have medium-length hair as a kid. I can tell you, good sir, that nothing keeps one's head warm better than a thick blanket of hair.

 

[Jerious1154]

Definitely not. While we don't need hair for survival anymore, people with hair are generally found more attractive than people who are bald, so they're more likely to reproduce. If anything, we'll evolve to have better looking hair.

 

[murphy7801]

I dont think so, the next step may have more to do with our skin pigmentation.

What i really meant to say was whatever our intelligent designer chooses...

hahahahahahahahhaha love the second half

 

[Sigel]

I dislike hair a lot,especially body hair, so less hair would be amazing.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I dont think so, the next step may have more to do with our skin pigmentation.

What i really meant to say was whatever our intelligent designer chooses...

What about our pigmentation? I'm not educated.

Well the variations in skin color are adaptive, and are related to the regulation of ultraviolet radiation penetration in the integument and its direct and indirect affects on fitness. So as UV radiation becomes stronger combined with our natural cross-breedings our skin tone is bound to adapt to fit the situation.

So what you're saying is, everyone will eventually be black.

Interesting.... ;¬>

I've heard that before though. And the reason why I could see baldness as the next stage is because as it's getting hotter, hair would be less necessary.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

So what you're saying is, everyone will eventually be black.

Interesting.... ;¬>

I've heard that before though. And the reason why I could see baldness as the next stage is because as it's getting hotter, hair would be less necessary.

Well i wouldnt say black, maybe more olive?

I dont want to go bald, i love my hair too much.

Let's assume you did, you shall be assimilated soon enough.

And neither do I, but I think we can rest easy for now.

 

[quiet_samurai]

Actually, fun fact here: We have almost the same amount of hair on our bodies per square inch as great apes. Only ours is not as dark and coarse. And older apes lose hair just like humans do.

 

[sabotstarr]

Technically isn't it a devolution since its actually less helpful than having hair?

true, but theoretically standing upright should of been bad as you loose more body heat....if evolution existed....[small]sorry lord[/small]

 

[DAMG]

My friend and I discussed this once. The problem with it is that hair is tied with attraction. We see lack of hair as unhealthy (bad genes), so baldness isn't the norm. Maybe if we lived in more ancestral times bald men would endure longer than others because they'd sweat less (or something), and it would be a forward step. However, our lives are so easy in modern times that there is very little need to evolve. Pretty neat to see another person bring this up.