Erhan Önal's Blog

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Why we sing when we shower

Many people sing in the shower but do not know why. I mean, what is the significance of being naked, taking a shower, and singing at the same time? The reason, of course, lies in our evolutionary past in the African savannah.

One possible theory is that guys shower and sing at the same time to be attractive to their potential female suitors (a sort of lekking). Showering and cleaning was one time where a man's muscles, physical qualities were being shown to females. Increasing their odds with melodic prowess probably helped our ancestors very much.

Another theory is that singing works like an "alive" signal. One of your tribesmen goes to the woods to wash and clean himself. The ones who like singing make others in the tribe know that they are alive. When the singing stopped, the tribesmen knew something was wrong and came to his help. The benefit of singing outweighed the cost of it.

As one can see, African savannah can explain every and any aspect of the human condition. Gays evolved because they took care of their nephews and nieces (This is an actual theory from an evolutionary psychologist/biologist). Religion evolved because of an overactive agent detection mechanism. Music is either a by-product of our giant brains or a peacock's tail sort of extravagance. McCain is going to win this Tuesday, and unicorns will sing at my wedding.

Any questions?

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