Why do humans have eyebrows?

Question

Seriously? What is the purpose of them? Why do we have them? Just a thought that struck me......

Answer 1

The eye brows purpose is to prevent the sweat from running down into the eyes. Animals don't have them 'cos they have fur on their faces. The eye lashes act as light diffusers & protection mechanism for the eyes. They are like sensors, when something is about to hit the eyes will touch them first & the eyes blink & close up to protect itself.

Answer 2

Try some hard physical labor on a hot day and you will discover they are good for keeping sweat out of your eyes.

Answer 3

they are to keep dust and dirt from they air out of your eyes

Answer 4

Prevent dust and sweat from reaching the eyes, along with the eyelashes. I have lost mine, and I can attest to their usefulness; I really miss them...

Answer 5

the purpose of them is to make human look good....idk just a guess. but seriously, it would look kind of funny if we don't lol!

Answer 6

Eyebrows are a very significant aspect of our appearance. They are one of the most distinctive features that make up our faces, and we pay a lot of attention to them. We think of some types of eyebrows as attractive and some as unattractive, and many people spend as much time preening their eyebrows as they do applying makeup to their eyelashes or lips. Eyebrows are also one of our most expressive facial features. One of the clearest ways to tell somebody what you're thinking is to simply move your eyebrows up or down -- we all know what different eyebrow positions mean.

So, eyebrows obviously serve a lot of functions in our culture today -- beauty, nonverbal communication, distinctive appearance. But why are they there in the first place? As we evolved and lost most of the thick hair on our bodies, why did we keep that little bit over the eyes?

Scientists aren't entirely sure why we kept this hair, but they have a pretty good guess. We know that eyebrows help keep moisture out of our eyes when we sweat or walk around in the rain. The arch shape diverts the rain or sweat around to the sides of our face, keeping our eyes relatively dry. The most obvious advantage of this is that it lets us see clearly when we're sweating a lot or out in the rain. Without eyebrows, getting around in these conditions is a little more difficult. The shape of your brow itself diverts a certain amount of moisture, but eyebrows make a significant difference in your ability to see. Diverting the sweat away is also good because the salt in sweat irritates the eyes, making them sting a little.  

Answer 7

the main function of the eyebrow is to prevent moisture, mostly salty sweat and rain, from flowing into the eye. They also prevent debris such as dandruff and other small object from falling into the eyes, as well as providing more sensitive sense for detecting objects being near the eye, like small insects

Answer 8

Eyebrows are a very significant aspect of our appearance. They are one of the most distinctive features that make up our faces, and we pay a lot of attention to them. We think of some types of eyebrows as attractive and some as unattractive, and many people spend as much time preening their eyebrows as they do applying makeup to their eyelashes or lips. Eyebrows are also one of our most expressive facial features. One of the clearest ways to tell somebody what you're thinking is to simply move your eyebrows up or down -- we all know what different eyebrow positions mean.

So, eyebrows obviously serve a lot of functions in our culture today -- beauty, nonverbal communication, distinctive appearance. But why are they there in the first place? As we evolved and lost most of the thick hair on our bodies, why did we keep that little bit over the eyes?

Scientists aren't entirely sure why we kept this hair, but they have a pretty good guess. We know that eyebrows help keep moisture out of our eyes when we sweat or walk around in the rain. The arch shape diverts the rain or sweat around to the sides of our face, keeping our eyes relatively dry. The most obvious advantage of this is that it lets us see clearly when we're sweating a lot or out in the rain. Without eyebrows, getting around in these conditions is a little more difficult. The shape of your brow itself diverts a certain amount of moisture, but eyebrows make a significant difference in your ability to see. Diverting the sweat away is also good because the salt in sweat irritates the eyes, making them sting a little.

Answer 9

They keep sweat and debris from running down into your eyes.