Why do we wear clothes??

I've noticed most people compare evolution with progress or "progressive" attributes. That is likely where they come up with DEvolution.

Or too much Devo.

The way I see it, there is no progress in a sense, just adaptation to a changing environment. And thereby not having to be any regression i.e. DEvolution.

Although I don't claim to know any facts

originally posted by: cooperton

originally posted by: PhloydPhan
Clothes protect us wind, rain, too much sunlight, insect bites, etc.

Wouldn't we have evolved mechanisms to deal with these issues? Or, if you believe in an intelligent source to creation, wouldn't that intelligent creator encode us with protection from these issues? Why are we so disharmonious with nature?

As some other posters have suggested, the current thinking on the subject is that, as humans began to walk upright on two legs and began to develop bigger brains, we began to use more energy than our ancestors, which required that we cool our bodies more actively via sweating. Sweating is a more effective means of cooling without a great deal of body hair, so humans gradually lost most of our body hair (at least in comparison to the other great apes).

This articl e makes for some interesting reading.

It is also worth noting that humans who live near the equator tend to have less body hair (and, thus, can rid themselves of excess heat via sweating more effectively) than humans who live in colder climates.

Clothes seperate us from animals. It may have been a key in evolution, possibly separating mating partners into different groups. Ancestors who were taught the advantages of clothes may have stayed away from the more primative bare-skinned humanoids from by social pressures alone.

Children are taught the shame of nudity (among other 'shameful' things) in order to fit with society. They are also taught the benefit of many other social things (manners, generally respect for others, etc.) in order to fit in. As humans we have evolved to become dependent on society and that is what we pass on to our kids. Almost nobody teaches their children to hunt for more than sport or supplemental food anymore. If you can't mesh well enough with society your DNA will have a less likely chance of being passed down. A few hundered generations ago we were taught how to be hunters. Being the best at those skills was the best way to pass your DNA to offspring. Take a look around now. The population that would survive the world 5000 years ago is about 1%. The human 'hivemind' chooses the DNA to best carry the species into the future. Men that are more socially adept to our society are preferred more than pure physical traits that dominated in past generations and clothes are a foundation of that social acceptance..

The first time we see an orangutan or gorilla wear a loin cloth it will be a scientific milestone. It is probably about the same on the evolutionary scale as learning to control fire. Once you start with the loin cloth trend though it never dies.

I am not real concerned with the Bible, but in the last few years, we've approached places like nude beaches tentatively.
It is just very popular and accepted in this country, so I began to get curious about what it is like, how do people feel about it, why do they do it.

I was surprised, for one how quickly I stopped being self-conscious, in the negative sense. It literally took about five minutes.
Then it was pleasurable- I never dreamed how nice it could be to be in the sun, feel the water and the sand, without sticky wet or constraining bathing suits or clothes.

The taboo on nudity being non-present seemed to put everyone on the same level in some ways. No matter what peoples backgrounds or social status, it couldn't be judged on what they wearing. Those things just didn't matter. What mattered is how you behave towards others- that is what speaks for you.

Also, with the nudity taboo out of the way, there seems to be less room for certain sexual type of manipulation.
I suspect that covering nudity stirs a stronger draw to the forbidden or hidden, (added to normal sexual attraction) which makes manipulation of each other easier.

I did not find that sexual stimulation was any more strong in such contexts than ones with clothes. Perhaps even less so. Though those were people who were used to it. I have had american friends and family see bare breasts alone on the beach here, and practically lose their heads! That is where I started to think hiding your body gives you more bargaining and manipulative power.

Well, just to interject.

In the UK public nudity is not an offense per se. I think this may be true of several other countries. If your (non sexual) nudity causes "alarm or distress" with others then the authorities can take action.

In the UK people wear clothes because it's not a tropical paradise!

Also, one constraining factor to nudity is the judgemental society. Most people are self conscious about their bodies so would not de-clothe on that basis, especially because others would be judging them.

For starters we "leak"

we do, we all do at some time or another.

I get the whole "thing" and "idea" that it would be good "in theory" but in practice it would be disgusting, the way to make it civil would be to go back to licking our privates of course like dogs and cats and well... you can claim the body is beautiful all you want i'm not licking my arse and I doubt I could...

I suppose you could ask why people wear shoes then. It's sort of obvious. Clothes would also serve as insulators for weather, along with being an insect deterrent. As you approach Equatorial locations it has been observed the proportionate lack of clothing and the mean temperatures in these areas.

originally posted by: SouthernForkway26
Clothes seperate us from animals. ....

...Children are taught the shame of nudity (among other 'shameful' things) in order to fit with society. They are also taught the benefit of many other social things (manners, generally respect for others, etc.) in order to fit in. As humans we have evolved to become dependent on society and that is what we pass on to our kids...

So nudists are like animals?
Societies are usually full of taboo's, proprieties, stupid restrictions and superstition's which passed from conservative generations to the new conservative generations, and so on.

The bad thing is children are always taught to fit in an existing rotted society, and never how to change it for the better.
That's why, in some of the most close minded societies of the world dark ages still flourish.

originally posted by: Plotus
I suppose you could ask why people wear shoes then. It's sort of obvious. Clothes would also serve as insulators for weather, along with being an insect deterrent. As you approach Equatorial locations it has been observed the proportionate lack of clothing and the mean temperatures in these areas.

"If we come from earth and belong here, why are we so uncomfortable here?”

-Louis CK

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: cooperton

hilarious...

originally posted by: ketsuko
If you want to have people walking innocently around in the buff, then you need to lay off the sex and let people be innocent.

Sex isn't the problem. It's viewing sex as some sort of immoral, shameful thing. You're saying, people can't just be naked, because it will be sexual. Well, nudity is so sexual because of sexual repression. In proportion to our level of sexual repression, we become increasingly sensitive to potential sexual cues. Saying 'lay off the sex then we could be naked' just re-enforces this repression. Stop repressing sex, and treating it as some dirty thing, then nudity won't be such a problem.

I would go with the unsanitary reasons and how in the world would this possibly work in a crowded elevator?

Because sex has let the bedroom and moved into the street, movies, the internet and ads everywhere, we must wear clothing for protection from predators as well.

That is true too. So sounds reasonable to me that we wear clothing.

He, in your case, would have said "hang up your clothes fetish and trample it under your feet and do not be afraid"
Since the nakedness he was referring to was the purity of God unadorned by ornamentation of any kind, including sophist argumentation of any kind.
reply to: cooperton

i wear clothes because it would horrify everyone else if i didn't. Might cause a spike in Bigfoot sightings, too.

But I think it has to do with warmth, as well as protection. I can imagine that running through the thickets naked would feel a whole lot less pleasant. It may also have something to do with the social construct of shame. We also tend to enjoy using the restroom in private, as well as doing many other activities (most human grooming is a private affair).

Maybe the human being feels an inherent shame about the human animal.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

i wear clothes because it would horrify everyone else if i didn't. Might cause a spike in Bigfoot sightings, too.

That's not true! I've seen you in a bikini and I thought you looked quite handsome. : P

a reply to: cooperton

Many cultures wear minimal clothes and live off the land. They still wear something, because when you walk in the woods/savanna/jungle you don't want your jewels getting whipped by branches or in contact with poison ivy or exposed to insects.

Why do they even wear those small thongs? It hardly covers or protects, by the looks of it, it looks like a leaf. They have no bible to give them the example of Adam and Eve, so why do you think they do it?

a reply to: Harvin

Wait for the babes to start their shifts.

Here is the reason (Peter Vlar just got in before me and stole my thunder, but here goes).

People are primates, but unique among primates in two important particulars: 1. We are naked without clothes, 2. We became major league predators at some point in our evolution. By that I mean we had to compete on the open savannah along with other predators who were all bigger, stronger, and faster than us.

One of the upshots of this was that we became faster, because chasing and being chased require the ability to run fast at short notice. This burns a lot of fuel to create the energy, and the by-product is body heat which we then have to get rid of...again, quickly. So we lost our body hair and developed sweat glands all over our skin. However, much of our planet is too cold for our naked bodies at rest...ergo, the need for clothes.

The development of the sense of modesty is interesting; perhaps there was a need for an 'excuse' to wear clothes that our biological evolution didn't make obvious.

loooollllll


And maybe it was sun, rain, snow and bugs...... No way!

People don't wanna see your stuff. And if they do, they'll probably let you know. I don't have children, but if I did, I would not want some weird pedo to walk with his s*** dangling out walking by him/her.