LONGECITY

I used to have hair about 1.5 inches long on my head. This weekend I decided to shave it all off ang get a #2 buzz. I noticed a slight improvement in my mood and clarity of thought. Maybe it is from cooler air reaching my head or because more sun reaches my scalp. Could anyone explain if there is any scientific basis for these effects?

idk, but i have a similar situation. i have very thick hair and i cannot stand having any real length to it, cuz it gets to be an itchy, annoying mess quite fast. so i keep it cut down very short, all the time.

While I doubt this is true, you've certainly given balding men all over the country a glimpse of hope!

No wonder all those long haired females are rather vapid....

kidding.

But really, I doubt it has any effect. Your body works very hard to keep your body temperate constant.

IIRC, North Korean instituted a mandatory short-hair policy for alleged cognitive benefits you mention. The reasoning was that long hair uses more of the body's nutrients that are otherwise available to the brain.

This disqualifies Einstein. Although I think he had short hair when he figured out his theories.

Maybe his real "greatest blunder" was growing his hair crazy.
Edited by JackChristopher, 09 November 2009 - 11:59 PM.

IIRC, North Korean instituted a mandatory short-hair policy for alleged cognitive benefits you mention. The reasoning was that long hair uses more of the body's nutrients that are otherwise available to the brain.

Isn't hair already dead tissue? Your body would still use nutrients to make hair, but it was my understanding that beyond that hair was "maintenance free" as far as nutrients from the body go.

IIRC, North Korean instituted a mandatory short-hair policy for alleged cognitive benefits you mention. The reasoning was that long hair uses more of the body's nutrients that are otherwise available to the brain.

Isn't hair already dead tissue? Your body would still use nutrients to make hair, but it was my understanding that beyond that hair was "maintenance free" as far as nutrients from the body go.

agreed

Maybe it is from cooler air reaching my head or because more sun reaches my scalp.

When you are outside, is your scalp the only part of your body exposed to the sun? + Vitamin D

Well, as dubious as your correlation may be, there was that theory that yawning 'cooled the brain' and that results in better cognitive function. (Though I passionately disagree that this is the reason for yawning.)
Hair could increase brain temperature by acting as an insulator, and having a cooler brain could result in better cognition.

There must have been studies on this. Do people who wear a hat perform worse on a battery of cognitive tests than people who do not?

Also, do you live in a hot climate? I'd imagine there's an 'ideal brain temperature' where signals are met with the least impedance but the brain doesn't suffer from hypothermia.
Edited by Viscid, 10 November 2009 - 06:44 AM.

For what its worth, as silly as it may seem, I've noticed this as well. It doesn't last though.

Wow what a thread.

Took a moment to realize that this thread is a parody. Good one

I think you just feel more clean cut so your self-esteem goes up. It's a personal issue for you and not something globally.