I stopped showering with soap and shampoo in high school after a bout of dry skin. After a transition period of length similar to the author's, I saw the same i

I stopped showering with soap and shampoo in high school after a bout of dry skin. After a transition period of length similar to the author's, I saw the same improvements. Today, I use soap (though not antibacterial) when cooking and whenever I'm covered in something like grease or rosin (hey, it happens) that could use the extra help soap affords. I only use the tiniest bit of shampoo to assist in getting the itchy little hair bits out after a haircut. While I have personally gained from the benefits of this experiment, I'm not a fan of the rationalizations some use to justify minimalism/naturalism/whatever you'll call it -- the arguments that run along the lines of "we didn't need it years ago, why do we need it today?" As an engineer, I find this wholesale skepticism of technology especially repugnant. Thus, I really appreciate that Sean frames this in terms of experimentation and checking hypotheses--be they self or socially formed. That is cool.