# Long Ears **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253 "2001-09-01T04:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@Mike\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253/1 "2001-09-01T04:10:06Z")
Why do ears keep growing? At 54, I notice I’m gettin’ long of ear. All the better to capture sound and “to hear you with my dear”? A sign of wisdom and/or rejection of material things (Like Buddha is said to have done - removing the ear-stretching bunch of jewelry the rich wore in his time, when he had his spiritual awakening, leaving the long ears pictured in his licenses)? Just plain cartilage and skin growth? Any clues? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253/2 "2001-09-01T04:19:01Z")
Just a WAG. You’re losing the layer of subcutaneous fat under the skin, a common side effect of age (hey, me too, so don’t snap at me, Paw…), and so it makes your ears hang down differently. They aren’t propped up all tight and snug against your skull anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@Mike\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253/3 "2001-09-01T04:29:04Z")
Too bad that age-and-subcutaneous-fat-loss thing doesn’t seem to apply to the “obliques” / love handles. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253/4 "2001-09-01T08:06:37Z")
My guess is that there is no evolutinary disadvantage to human ear growth. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-ears/79253/5 "2001-09-01T08:25:58Z")
Old men have big ears, big noses, big eyebrows, and their wangs hang down to their knee. That’s because those parts are either goin’ with the flow of gravity or have the least gravity working against them.