We have to brush our teeth twice a day or they rot, shower or we smell like shit, wash our face or we get blackheads etc.
In: Biology
This is actually one misperception intersecting with another.
Many animals actually spend a fair amount of their time, (more than modern humans,) grooming and cleaning themselves, but an animal licking themselves or preening their feathers for an hour isn’t compelling video.
Humans have unusual grooming and hygene rituals and expectations because of the way humans typically live and closely interact in fixed locations on a daily basis for long spans of time. Human tribes/groups that didn’t practice some kind of hygenic standard were at high risk for disease, and so over time most people became accustomed to almost obsessive erradication of any accumulated filth to the point where the skin and hair can become dry and damaged from overwashing, necessitating cosmetics and ointments to compensate.
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