Stonebreaker Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 OK I went yesterday to try to find a fossil/rock club in the area and met a geology professor at MSU Billings...Sooo whats the deal with every paleontologist/geologist having huge beard and/or crazy hair. Is it a secret in the circle or something? A requirement to graduate? A way for the mothership to reconize you? (See other post on that one.. I've got a land site..in hunting trips section) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 ...Sooo whats the deal with every paleontologist/geologist having huge beard and/or crazy hair. Is it a secret in the circle or something? A requirement to graduate? A way for the mothership to reconize you? If you don't know the secret handshake, I can't tell you... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 OK I went yesterday to try to find a fossil/rock club in the area and met a geology professor at MSU Billings...Sooo whats the deal with every paleontologist/geologist having huge beard and/or crazy hair. Is it a secret in the circle or something? A requirement to graduate? A way for the mothership to reconize you? (See other post on that one.. I've got a land site..in hunting trips section) Sweet! Im in like Flynn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 They have the crazy hair to shade their heads when they have forgotten their hats, and they have the beards for cleaning off fossils/specimens when they have forgotten their brushes. They follow the Boy Scout "Always be Prepared" saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonebreaker Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 If you don't know the secret handshake, I can't tell you... HA!!! I knew it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Not sure, but the ones I know are all clean shaven and have buzz cuts. Perhaps it is variable by country. Apparently my appearance is recognizable as an anthropology student, as other profs guess my major by it... perhaps every field has a signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 They have the crazy hair to shade their heads when they have forgotten their hats, and they have the beards for cleaning off fossils/specimens when they have forgotten their brushes. They follow the Boy Scout "Always be Prepared" saying. HAHAHA! Not enough time for a haircut or shave. Too many fossils to collect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 I have a BS degree in chemistry, and when you walk down their halls, everybody is well dressed and groomed, and usually smiling. I have a masters in Biology, and when you walk down their hall, they are generally poorly dressed, unshaven, and muttering. I suspect some might be a little smelly, although I never get that close. I try to stay on the chem side, even though I teach classes for both. Bio dudes are weird. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 HAHAHA! Not enough time for a haircut or shave. Too many fossils to collect! Extra storage..you'd be surprised how many ammonites you can carry with a full beard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharks of SC Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I suspect Its a guise to ward off muggers - If you look homeless, nobody's going to jump you for your shark teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Yo Stonebreaker... you are catching on... I tried to give you the secret handshake when I met you, but your short, well kept hair and Chicago Cubs attire gave me a good clue that you have not been to the mother ship. Indeed your blank stare confirmed. But more seriously, I am one of those bio types ashcraft mentions, yes my degree is in biology and yes, I have long sometimes unruly hair, and yes, showering and dressing nicely are both over-rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonebreaker Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 LOL its ok JP you are good people...even if u are a dirty hippy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 ashcraft mentions, yes my degree is in biology and yes, I have long sometimes unruly hair, and yes, showering and dressing nicely are both over-rated. Funny stuff-but it really does amaze me in the difference between the two disciplines. Chemists in academia just act so secure as they move about, while biologists always seem to have the chicken little look about them. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 I spent the last 23 years working in various biology departments and yes, they are a weird lot (myself excluded, of course). For many of them, their work is their hobby and vice versa so there is never a need to interect with the outside world, hence the unkempt look. If you weren't working 60 hour weeks you were lazy! Or maybe it's just because we don't give a darn what others think, I forget... If you believe everything you read, perhaps it's time for you to stop reading... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Boy Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 (edited) I was a bio major too and noticed this many years ago. Things in our neck of the woods probably haven't changed much. I always thought that the beard acted as the "flavor savor", hosting soup, beverage, and food morsels from previous meals and, by design, a survival tool if you get turned around and get lost while in the field. That said, evolutionary evidence is clearly at work, because even though the beard/tool is still operational in our neck of the woods, obviously in severe northern climates the clean shaven look has been observed. Is the St. Lawrence River system really that much of a barrier? What advantage does the clean shaven look have other than for possible improved procreative opportunities and survival of the species? This could be a great anthropological discovery thousands of years from now. Edited July 6, 2010 by Fat Boy Kevin Wilson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 What advantage does the clean shaven look have other than for possible improved procreative opportunities and survival of the species? I think we are now getting into the subspecies thing again. The whole muddled beard and unclean look attracts its own form of female, usually unshaven themselves. Definitely forming a uniques breeding group within the human population. I propose a name- Perfeserus nerdidius standardus, or the common biology professor. Habitat would include chalk board jungles, food would include lots of granola, and the occasional protein in the form of a freshman general bio student. Readily recognizable by the beard with bits of detreitus from past mass consumptions. Common names would include perfessor, skunk bear (when lots of granola is consumed), and during the magical time of spring finals, you'll hear their minions calling them either "sir" when facing them, or "butthole", when they are retiring from the classroom. Been called worse, Perfessor Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_turkey Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 I was a bio major too and noticed this many years ago. Things in our neck of the woods probably haven't changed much. I always thought that the beard acted as the "flavor savor", hosting soup, beverage, and food morsels from previous meals and, by design, a survival tool if you get turned around and get lost while in the field. That said, evolutionary evidence is clearly at work, because even though the beard/tool is still operational in our neck of the woods, obviously in severe northern climates the clean shaven look has been observed. Is the St. Lawrence River system really that much of a barrier? What advantage does the clean shaven look have other than for possible improved procreative opportunities and survival of the species? This could be a great anthropological discovery thousands of years from now. I have the crazy hair but not the beard. So what happened to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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