my impression is that it's a bad idea to dunk your head in cold water under most conditions
Hmm, any links? I could see this leading to headaches/migraines in susceptible people, but otherwise why not?
What should an optimal ramp look like?
What would you optimize for?
Hmm, any links? I could see this leading to headaches/migraines in susceptible people, but otherwise why not?
...otherwise? If it's giving you a headache, that seems like a good reason to suspect damage. I have mostly seen anecdotal reports; headaches for showering, and this person claims that their Finnish friends recommend against submerging their head during a jump into the lake during the sauna. (Perhaps some Finns here could chime in?)
What would you optimize for?
Beneficial health impact?
To the fun theory, hedonic treadmill sequences.
http://gettingstronger.org/hormesis/
TL;DR stoicism with science.
Key idea: OPT, Opponent Process Theory: http://gettingstronger.org/2010/05/opponent-process-theory/
Research, PDF: http://gettingstronger.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Solomon-Opponent-Process-1980.pdf
From the article:
"In hedonic reversal, a stimulus that initially causes a pleasant or unpleasant response does not just dissipate or fade away, as Irvine describes, but rather the initial feeling leads to an opposite secondary emotion or sensation. Remarkably, the secondary reaction is often deeper or longer lasting than the initial reaction. And what is more, when the stimulus is repeated many times, the initial response becomes weaker and the secondary response becomes stronger and lasts longer."