LFHCfS Awards

Posted 11 December 2004 by Nick Matzke

↗ The current version of this post is on the live site: https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2004/12/lfhcfs-awards.html

The Annals of Improbable Research and the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) have just announced the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) Men and Women of the Year. The first member of LFHCfS was, naturally enough, Harvard evolutionary biologist Stephen Pinker (who also happens to be a Project Steve Steve — he gets around).

I move that we find out if any PT posters belong in LFHCfS. The best nomination I could think of was Ian Musgrave.

Alright, here’s Ian Musgrave:

Just kidding. Here’s the real Ian Musgrave:

If beards count, he is definitely “in.”

10 Comments

PZ Myers · 11 December 2004

Hah. I've got more hair than that. Than Ian, that is...the other guys up there make me feel inadequate.

Ian Musgrave · 12 December 2004

Hah. I've got more hair than that. Than Ian, that is . . . the other guys up there make me feel inadequate.
— PZ Myers

That's because in the offical photos, my hair is back in a ponytail so you can't see it. It definitly counts in the LFHCfS stakes, and I can do better than the folks pictured. When you student evaluations include "Dr. Musgrave should get a hair cut", you get an idea that I'm slighly more hirstute than the average person. Mind you, I have my summer cut at the moment, so the beard doesn't look like Ned Kelly's, nor does my hair go past the small of my back. Strangely, I don't have many actual photos of me with my hair not tied back. Try the top righthand photo at this page. http://home.mira.net/~reynella/photo.htm

RBH · 12 December 2004

Hirsuteness is an atavism that's due to deficient testosterone.

(That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

RBH

John Wilkins · 12 December 2004

I think it is time that the Society for the Sensible Use of Hair Growth Hormones started their own page. I will be the inaugural member...

Ian Musgrave · 13 December 2004

Hirsuteness is an atavism that's due to deficient testosterone. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
— RBH

Sorry, that is only for male pattern baldness, not all over hair. You can be shiny on top and ruglike elsewhere (or in my case, shiny on top and with a long flowing mane and a face that looks like I've been interupted eating an Echidna.

Rilke's Granddaughter · 13 December 2004

Bald is sexy. Face facts, guys. Well, it is for guys anyway. Or, well... (she retires, red-faced, to a corner of the library).

Rilke's Granddaughter · 13 December 2004

Bald is sexy. Face facts, guys. Well, it is for guys anyway. Or, well... (she retires, red-faced, to a corner of the library).

PZ Myers · 14 December 2004

So, how is the echidna?

OK, I'll have to give you the prize in the hair competition. I've noticed that every time I trim the beard and get a haircut I look ten years younger, and at my age, that's tempting me into the barbershop rather frequently.

tigerbear · 14 December 2004

Since when was Steven Pinker an evolutionary biologist? As far as I know he holds degrees and positions in psychology.

Nick (Matzke) · 15 December 2004

Eh, something or other I was reading recently described him as an evolutionary biologist. He is at root a cognitive linguist in the Chomskian tradition, but his book The Language Instinct synthesizes Chomsky and Darwin (something Chomsky didn't do), which I think means he deserves the label honorarily at least.

You might check out on his articles page:

Pinker, S. (2003) Language as an adaptation to the cognitive niche. In M. Christiansen & S. Kirby (Eds.), Language evolution: States of the Art. New York: Oxford University Press.