Today, soft, tender, sensitive, coddled feet are missing the callouses that most of human prehistory experienced, but it's because of their adaptability, not the lack of a toughness trait. Anyone who wears “demanding” shoes (many of the women I know who wear heels, for example) can attest to how well feet are able to grow a very thick and tough layer of protective epidermis… Similarly, try living barefoot outdoors for a summer, a year or all your life, and you'll see exactly how tough human feet can get : a few years, and they become practically horn-like. That said, while feet do develop protection proportional to environmental demands, they also have a fairly significant evolutionary sensory investment in the form of dense nerve endings and brain power dedicated to interpreting their input. There is clearly an evolutionary balance struck between protection and nerve sensitivity to maximize avoidance of damage to the feet.
I don't know.. I keep my feet clean and moisturize them.. And they look much the same as they always have. Skin might be a bit thicker, but I don't have calluses or anything. And I'd say my barefooting IS pretty intensive. So I don't know why anyone would let their feet end up like that. It's not necessary.
While I do not consider my barefooting "intensive" like Driftrue my skin is a bit thicker but that's about it. I take care of them. See the proof in my profile pics.
I started with the intention of seeing if I could make my feet tougher and they did but I never got callouses. How could I they? I heard to remove those is with a stone and I walk on concrete all the time, the skin got thinker but its not calloused. The foot muscles got alot stronger, for example I can stand on a rope between a boat and the dock when I climb on no problem. Doesn't hurt at all. But I would say adapting to barefoot is 25% feet changes and 75% learning how walk again without kicking things (toe stubbing) or stomping down on things without a conscience effort to avoid doing so.
