The reunion didn't happen and I thought about cutting it again but I said screw it. I wasn't working a job or anything so I just let it grow. It's not crazy-long but it's long enough to put in a ponytail.
I thought about the story where Native Americans who were hired by the army to be trackers lost their abilities to track after getting regulation haircuts. The basic theory was that their long hair somehow acted as an antenna.
Except for God I don't believe in all that many things in the world that can't be proved or at least supported by strong evidence. By the same token I don't disbelieve in something just because it sounds crazy. Just because something sounds crazy doesn't mean it isn't true, and that's a fact.
Snopes says it's bullshit. They bring up several good points- they say that this supposedly happened during the Vietnam War, where the Native Americans were allowed to keep their long hair to retain their tracking abilities, and they say there's no record of anyone with long hair serving in that war. I don't recall seeing photos of anyone with long hair, and when I was a teenager they showed the Vietnam War every night on the news.
You'd think it'd be a big deal and we'd see photos. Then again, lots of things aren't made public when it comes to war and national security. I don't see how anyone could say for sure whether it did or didn't happen. Lots of GIs had Kodaks, and you'd think a photo or two would slip out, but who knows.
Snopes also says that hair is a poor conductor of electricity. It's gruesome but they do shave convicts' heads before they get the chair, since hair acts as an insulator. If it's such a poor conductor though, why does it stand up during a lightning storm or when someone touches a Van Der Graaf Generator?
I didn't read the whole article but they talked about a theoretical electromagnetic deal, though they didn't try to debunk it, and you'd think someone smarter than me would think about the lightning thing. Electricity and electromagnetism are two different things.
Supposedly a psychiatrist with the VA who treated Vietnam vets for PTSD read a bunch of studies on the subject, had his paradigm changed, and never cut his hair or beard again. Snopes "debunks" that too, but I'll say this...you know how we hear "Don't believe everything on the internet?" Snopes is on the internet. Nah...people who write the narrative would never lie, right?
I could've sworn that when I read the story many years ago it was about Native Americans in the Civil War or one of the early ones, and that's why we see so many photos of generals with really long hair. Of course it was more in fashion back then, and there were no regulation haircuts. It's an interesting idea anyway.
I'm still on the fence about getting a regulation haircut, for an old man anyway. When my hair is long you can't see the gray as much, which I think has to do with how light reflects off of it, but if I cut it it looks way more gray. Not that I really care, and I'll never dye it, but it does look darker that most guys my age and even a lot younger.
Having long hair, especially an older person, can indicate that you're an old hippy, or you want to demonstrate that you're trying to be different from the crowd, or maybe not fit into society as most people know it, or you're a freak or whatever. I do march to a different drummer, but I don't try to advertise it. I've done the short hair, professionally-dressed gig, and also the long hair, sex, drugs and Rock & Roll gig, for real. Both are okay.
There's another thing I think about when I'm considering a haircut, and that's the classic CSN&Y tune Almost Cut My Hair, which makes me grin. Anyway I tend to think there's something to it, and I think the fact that hair stands up during close lightning strikes and even before they happen supports the notion. It makes sense that hair could respond to electrical fields, which we all generate. Maybe I'll keep my hair long. There's still a few fish in the sea, and I don't want to lose my tracking abilities.
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