# Useless body parts that are good for something **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487 "2021-09-10T21:01:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/22 "2021-09-14T14:48:04Z")
I knew a girl who put her pubic hair to use by gluing up a fake beard for a Halloween party. Supposedly she went unrecognized. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/23 "2021-09-14T16:27:30Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I have a muscle on the palm of my hand (pinky side) that I can manipulate. Apparently, no one else on the planet can do this. So I guess it makes me fun at parties. I can wiggle my ears. To this day I can’t describe what i do to make this happen; I discovered it by accident one day in high school when I realized my glasses were moving up and down my nose. The left ear moves better than the right. I have to assume it’s something related to other mammals being able to prick their ears up (e.g. dogs, horses). There’s a tendon that some / most people have on the inside of the wrist - the palmaris longus. A significant percentage of people (14% or so) don’t have this; the only issue they have (apparently) is slightly decreased pinching strength on the ring and pinky fingers. I’ve only got one (but that’s because the doc swiped the other to fix the tendon to that useless pinky finger! Got an interesting scar out of it - looks like a circle of bite marks. Re the pinky and keyboard: While I do use mine - the left, in particular - when the right pinky was out of commission (see above) I didn’t miss its functionality, but boy howdy that thing got in the way (as I was unable to extend it to get it out of the way of the rest of the hand). I never seriously thought about amputating it, but I could see it being enough of an annoyance that someone would be tempted. ---
**Author:** ![Stego](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stego/32/7118_2.png) [@Stego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stego)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/24 "2021-09-14T18:15:53Z")
I am so proud of y’all, keep 'em coming! > [@Gatopescado](#): > > Nature’s Dental Floss My dental hygienist has never been that open minded. > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > What are those plates on your back good for, @Stego, and what do _you_ do with them? They are a great excuse for my less than exemplary abs. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I knew a girl who put her pubic hair to use by gluing up a fake beard for a Halloween party. Supposedly she went unrecognized. This is more than I expected, in so many ways. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I can wiggle my ears. This is as close to a super power as non fictional characters can go. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/25 "2021-09-14T22:49:36Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I can wiggle my ears. I figured out how to do that when I was very young. When I was teaching high school biology, I’d tell the kids the muscles animals use to rotate their ears are vestigial in humans. Then I’d wiggle my ears at them. Some would be surprised, but there were always a few who also were ear wigglers and promptly showed off. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/26 "2021-09-15T12:26:32Z")
I’m an ear wiggler. Also a tongue roller. Oh, and ear lobes? Sometimes you need something to hold onto, during certain types of sex. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/27 "2021-09-18T21:52:28Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > the shape of the human ear, including the ridges, supposedly does help funnel sound into the inner ear. Not just funnel but also help determine the direction from which the sound is coming. If a sound is coming, say, from 30-degrees to the right it should be a bit louder in your right ear than your left. If you turn your head slightly one way or another those folds inside your pinnae make the difference in sound radically shift. One gets louder and the other gets louder, softer, or stays the same. After a lifetime of practice your brain interprets the change so you’re able to pin down the direction exactly so quickly and smoothly, you don’t even realize you’re doing it. > **[Why are Ears Shaped So Strangely?](https://www.livescience.com/32439-why-are-ears-shaped-so-strangely.html)** > > Those external folds of cartilage and skin, called the pinna, have important resonant properties that modify high-frequency sound waves entering the ear before funneling them to the middle ear. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/28 "2021-09-20T22:03:06Z")
> [@Stego](#): > > pubic hair One theory I’ve heard on the evolutionary reason for pubic hair, particularly on females, is that is that it helps keep dirt and sand out of the intimate parts. Although that’s mostly moot unless you’re a nudist, since clothes serve the same purpose. Another theory is that it helps contain pheromones. Armpit hair as well. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/29 "2021-09-21T19:11:36Z")
> [@Stego](#): > > (men’s) nipples _Time Bandits_’ **Evil** has something to say about that… [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6OKLgLZHFk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6OKLgLZHFk) ---
**Author:** ![Stego](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stego/32/7118_2.png) [@Stego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stego)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/30 "2021-09-22T09:42:25Z")
Just yesterday I discovered that the bellybutton is not only good for making fluff balls. It is also useful as a storage for the cap of the eyedrops bottle while you are lying down and putting drops in your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/31 "2021-09-22T14:48:35Z")
A fat belly is a good rest for your can of soda or beer. And you can use it to hold a napkin in place on your lap. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/32 "2021-09-22T20:03:53Z")
Armpit hair and pubic hair also provide some slip so protect against chafing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/33 "2021-09-22T20:09:13Z")
I can raise either eyebrow independently. The only use for that skill is to look askance better than other people can. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/34 "2021-09-22T23:13:27Z")
My toenails are good at protecting a small part of my feet from a curious cat’s claws. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487/35 "2021-09-23T16:34:25Z")
If you play guitar without a pick, it’s very convenient to use the naturally occurring oils on the sides of your nose, forehead, etc. to lubricate your striking-hand fingertips. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-body-parts-that-are-good-for-something/950487.md?page=1)