Beautiful Ears

Hearing 5
Andre Willers
16 Oct 2009

Synopsis :
Hairs in or on the ears leads to loss of higher-frequency hearing .

Discussion :
The physiological reason :
The Earlobe is finely sculpted by evolution to channel all frequencies into the ear-channel .
Hairs in the earlobe reflects higher frequency sounds . Lower frequencies(longer wavelengths)bend around them . The hairs in the inner-ear sensitive to high-frequencies are not sufficiently stimulated , and stem-cell replacement degrades . This leads to a slow loss of higher-frequency hearing with age .

Solution :
Depilitate hair in the ear-lobe using something like Nair . No stubble should remain .

Sexual cues .
Young , sexually mature humans have no hair at all on the ear-lobes , but the normal complement in the ear-canal . This is a big turn-on for humans . (See posts on click-languages .) The ability to hear different frequencies clearly is a major survival plus .

Nobody likes a mouth full of stringy hair when trying to nibble or lick a paramour's delicious earlobes .

Feedback mechanisms :
The system is extraordinarily sensitive to scattering of high-frequency sounds by hairs on and around the ear-lobes .
The very design of the earlobe is non-linear . Human hearing is nearly as sensitive as human vision . We are talking quantum levels . Even a few hairs plays havoc with the whole feedback system .

This is one of the body's systems of governing old-age (ie sacrifices to predators: Felis Dino ) . See previous posts on body hair.

How to cheat :
Just use a depilatory in and behind the ear-lobes . Not inside the hearing-canal ..
Hearing in the elderly should improve in the range of 1/3 to2/3 , especially in the upper frequency ranges .(give about 6 months chance for the stem cells to kick in ) .

I have written exhaustively about this in previous posts , and am tired of repeating the obvious .

Here's clicking at you .

Andre