I am beginning to suspect that it is surprisingly common for intelligent, competent adults to somehow make it through the world for a few decades while missing some ordinary skill, like mailing a physical letter, folding a fitted sheet, depositing a check, or reading a bus schedule. Since these tasks are often presented atomically - or, worse, embedded implicitly into other instructions - and it is often possible to get around the need for them, this ignorance is not self-correcting. One can Google "how to deposit a check" and similar phrases, but the sorts of instructions that crop up are often misleading, rely on entangled and potentially similarly-deficient knowledge to be understandable, or are not so much instructions as they are tips and tricks and warnings for people who already know the basic procedure. Asking other people is more effective because they can respond to requests for clarification (and physically pointing at stuff is useful too), but embarrassing, since lacking these skills as an adult is stigmatized. (They are rarely even considered skills by people who have had them for a while.)
This seems like a bad situation. And - if I am correct and gaps like these are common - then it is something of a collective action problem to handle gap-filling without undue social drama. Supposedly, we're good at collective action problems, us rationalists, right? So I propose a thread for the purpose here, with the stipulation that all replies to gap announcements are to be constructive attempts at conveying the relevant procedural knowledge. No asking "how did you manage to be X years old without knowing that?" - if the gap-haver wishes to volunteer the information, that is fine, but asking is to be considered poor form.
(And yes, I have one. It's this: how in the world do people go about the supposedly atomic action of investing in the stock market? Here I am, sitting at my computer, and suppose I want a share of Apple - there isn't a button that says "Buy Our Stock" on their website. There goes my one idea. Where do I go and what do I do there?)
Regarding haircuts for men: the best way in my experience is to become a regular at a cheap place that's been in business for a long time. You'll likely get much better service than a random customer.
Also, for men with a handsome face and a nicely shaped head, spending resources on an elaborate haircut is a complete waste -- a simple very short cut or even a buzz-cut will look as good as anything else. The only important thing is that it's not strikingly uneven and flawed. Otherwise, a well selected and executed haircut can make you look more handsome, but finding the cost-benefit optimum here is very difficult and individual-specific.
Very expensive, elaborate, and high-maintenance cuts are likely a waste in any case. Generally, a big problem with all short hairstyles is that they become visibly uglier due to hair growth after only a week or two, which makes elaborate cuts even less cost-effective.
Finally, if you're losing hair visibly, a shaved head is definitely the way to go. Just make sure you don't look too scrawny.
If you are doing a normal guy look, sure. But if you want to do something crazier or more subcultural, then ditch the barber.
One of the simplest ways a guy can increase the amount of sexual attention he gets is to get a cool haircut (i.e. not a normal guy barber haircut).
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