• Question: if i can close my eyes why cant i close my ears

    Asked by lukethedeathbringer to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Maria on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Good point – some species can close their ears! I guess we just don’t need to. We can cover them with our hands if we really need to stop stuff getting into them.

    • Photo: Betul Arslan

      Betul Arslan answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      This is a brilliant question! I never thought about it… Maybe we need to close our eyes so to rest them/clean them and keep them away from harm but the actual ear machinery is already embedded inside of our ears and pretty well protected that we don’t need to work for it?

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Closing your eyes temporarily by blinking re-moistens them which is necessary so that your corneas don’t shrivel up. Closing them during sleep blocks out light and other visual stimulants to help you sleep. However, there isn’t much necessity to close your ears- they’re not damaged by water or anything else (unless you shove something in them- that can be VERY damaging!) and closing them would mean you wouldn’t be able to hear! It might come in handy if someone is listening to dodgy music nearby but from an evolutionary perspective- shutting off one of your main defensive senses probably isn’t a good idea which is why any genes that prompted ear-closing wouldn’t have made it very far into the gene pool!

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