Culturally relevant practices are no longer a priority for me. Not to say that I ever “conformed” to any trends knowingly, but unknowingly I did conform to the aesthetic trend of nonconformity and individualism during my adolescence. Everyone, except for those few abnormally late bloomers, began conforming to some trend in high school. The culprit? Hormones. This idea of a personal image somewhat disintegrated for me over the years, mainly as a result of being in a long comfortable relationship. My “relatively” recent acquisition of “single” status, coupled with an even more recent revelation of personal definition, has me once again contemplating my appearance.

I’ve had long hair since the last half of high school; roughly ten years. And as a result it has become one of my more defining features. Its origins are obvious; my taste in loud, complex music. Once I began furthering my education, though, my reasoning added other elements. It became a tool for a silent battle against social norms. The most prominent being that so many jobs aren’t available to long-haired men, simply because they have long hair. Where is the justification in this? The occupational world seems to be enforced by an outmoded idea of the “suit and tie” intellectual elite. Those with an education had money, power, and a “clean” appearance. This is no longer the case, if it ever was. The intellectuals of the modern world look however they want. It is their minds that matter, not their appearances.

Of course, preferences on personal appearance all boil down to our individual attempts to acquire a mate. Since, of course, I have not reached the level where I could gain a companion based solely on academic accomplishments, I must combine the academic progress I have made with a visually desirable self image. I have found that the people who desire, or even accept, men with long hair, that in turn fit my own preferences on friends and mates, are extremely few in number. I mean, on any given day, depending on the weather or how long it has been since i got a trim, I could either look like a member of a talented and successful band, or a homeless guy. And more often than not, especially if I am too lazy to shave, it always seems to be the latter. This seems to attract the lowest of people, because, apparently it is assumed that I am among those people. So many times have I been the victim of others’ assumptions, which encompass practices and lifestyles I have never been apart of, nor have I ever had an interest in becoming apart of. All this based on my appearance. So, I guess culturally relevant practices ARE in fact a little more relevant to me than I previously thought.

Ah, Frank Zappa. Maybe I should just go with his look.

In recent years I have relished in the thought of becoming a long haired professor that looks like the lead guitarist for a northern European metal band…or maybe is as well. Unfortunately I still have several more years before I gain such an academic career.

What are your opinions? And what should I do with my hair? Or maybe these questions are pointless, and you are just dumbfounded, thinking “Jeez, this guy just wrote an entire essay on contemplating a haircut.”

Typhoon-White Liars

Check out Typhoon’s Official Website and Facebook page

Photograph by Marius Bugge.

You’ve said that you’re beyond atheism. What does that mean?

I have trouble believing that other people believe. (Laughs.)

You think they’re lying?

I’m sure they’re not lying. Their belief may be genuine. But it’s like arguing that fairies are coming out of my toaster in the middle of the night. You can’t prove to me that there aren’t fairies in my toaster, but that doesn’t mean you should take me seriously. What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart and therefore you can act on it, you have completely justified the 9/11 bombers. You have justified Charlie Manson. If it’s true for you, why isn’t it true for them? Why are you different? If you say “I believe there’s an all-powerful force of love in the universe that connects us all, and I have no evidence of that but I believe it in my heart,” then it’s perfectly okay to believe in your heart that Sharon Tate deserves to die. It’s perfectly okay to believe in your heart that you need to fly planes into buildings for Allah.

Spitznagel, Eric. “Penn Jillette Is Willing to Be a Guest on Adolf Hitler’s Talk Show.” Vanity Fair 17 June 2010

DC – It’s a shame that uneducated people have a right to their moronic opinions based on a preconceived sense of close mindedness

Me – The real shame is that the ignorant are the masses. Hence the slow progress of the human race, and the continued need for hierarchy and a governing body.

AV – You are against social structure? We are mammals, all mammals have some form of social structure it’s very natural. The problem is not a governing body, it is a governing body that is not afraid of its people.

Me – No, not social structure as a whole. Just the way it is perceived and implemented.
Not all mammals live in clusters and travel in pacts that require a hierarchical system. It is often natural instinct for them to behave in whatever way they do.
All I am saying is that we should, and hopefully one day will, be to the point where the intellect of the human race surpasses the need for governing.
The basic purpose for a governing body is (supposed to be) to enforce and maintain a system of order in relation to its assumptions and expectations of the intellectual level of its people as a whole. It is direction for those where logic is not always present.
Rules and laws are based on logic, for the most part. People often do things without understanding the natural consequences of their actions.

If you liked this one then you might also enjoy another BBC Horizon episode entitled “The Secret You”

“For we are the local
embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to
contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages
of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms;
tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose.”

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known”

Indeed