4 ms·

My barbershop comes with a cool feature called human interaction, which is useful for raising serotonin levels in the brain.

catalogia 7y ago
There is a certain sort of personality that despises that sort of human contact. But I don't expect they're a large enough portion of the population to make such a robot commercially viable. (Also that demographic is already served by hair-cutting vacuum cleaner gadgets.)
- opportune 7y ago
  Usually I find barbers don’t even try talking to me because they tend to be older and their clients tend to be older so they don’t know what to say. And I look a lot younger than I am. Not that I want to talk to them anyway, due to awkwardness, but seeing all the other barbers talking to their clients and mine not even trying to talk to me somehow makes it even worse
  - catalogia 7y ago
    My barber always leaves a TV running in the corner. If you're in a talkative mood he's more than happy to chat, but if you're the quiet sort he's content to work quietly and listen to the TV instead. (I'm not a huge fan of TV, but it's prompted some interesting conversations about motor sports, of which he's a fan but which I know fairly little about.) Before I found my current barber, I used to go to a 'hair salon' sort of place that had very talkative hip young hairdressers. They were always friendly but I found them harder to relate to. It was also a lot more crowded which didn't help, and they always seemed a little disappointed when I asked for a regular haircut.
- larnmar 7y ago
  Personally I’d love a (competent) hair cutting robot because I simply don’t have time. The only day of the week I can get my hair cut is Saturday; I meant to get it done last Saturday, ran out of time, now I’m going out of town next Saturday and I am stuck looking terrible for the rest of the year. If there were a robot at the mall I could get it done at 9pm on a Tuesday or whenever I have a moment.
  - tomjakubowski 7y ago
    There are barbers who work weird/late hours, you know.
- squish78 7y ago
  Our species spent a million years forming complex social bonds and we're doing our damnedest to engineer them away
BurningFrog 7y ago
Not all human interaction, surely? Trying to turn on my "fun conversationalist" module with a stranger I have very little in common with can certainly feel like a painful chore for me. Put another way, I'd rather not have to perform.
- squish78 7y ago
  But your brain chemistry is evolved to seek it as a survival mechanism, is all I’m saying
  - Melting_Harps 7y ago
    > But your brain chemistry is evolved to seek it as a survival mechanism, is all I’m saying Shush it with your insightful biochemistry-evolution talk, just nod in agreement to the proponents who would rather make everyone live in the same bleak, isolating life of meaningless distraction that they have. They have all that sweet VC money and we're all here to sell our apps!
    - deleted 7y ago
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    - deleted 7y ago
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    - ryanmercer 7y ago
      It's so frustrating right? "I want a robot to cut my hair in 2 minutes because why would I want to have to talk to a human being" Or one that really alarmed me was Rob Rhinehart's (Soylent) comments about groceries https://www.businessinsider.com/soylent-ceo-rob-rhinehart-quotes-about-the-future-of-food-2015-10#on-nature-people-have-this-belief-that-just-because-something-is-natural-its-good-the-natural-state-of-man-is-ignorant-and-starving-and-cold-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/soylent-ceo-rob-rhinehart-qu... >I have not set foot in a grocery store in years. Nevermore will I bumble through endless confusing aisles like a pack-donkey searching for feed while the smell of rotting flesh fills my nostrils and fluorescent lights sear my eyeballs and sappy love songs torture my ears. We're turning into a reclusive, anti-social, afraid of each other, society because those are the types that get funding. Shakespeare was a fortune teller: >And private in his chamber pens himself, >Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, >And makes himself an artificial night. >Black and portentous must this humor prove >Unless good counsel may the cause remove. I don't want to spend all of my time alone, staring at one display or another, interacting with code or algorithm-selected content. Thank you for being one of the sane ones that sees the absurdity of it!
pier25 7y ago
Not all human interaction is desirable
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  Barber shops are traditionally, and presently, social gathering spots. Go to proper barber shops, not hair cutting chains, and you'll see people just sitting around hanging out talking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber >Barbershops are also places of social interaction and public discourse. In some instances, barbershops are also public forums. They are the locations of open debates, voicing public concerns, and engaging citizens in discussions about contemporary issues. https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/community-roles-barber-shop-and-beauty-salon https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/community-roles-barber-shop-and-b... >Since the turn of the 19th century, beauty salons and barber shops have served as special places among African Americans. They have been places not only to get hair care services but locations where black people could be vulnerable and talk about issues of importance in the community. There were spaces where customers played games such as chess, cards, and dominoes, while having conversations about local gossip, politics, and community affairs. And this isn't just an African American thing, it's a white thing, it's a Hispanic thing, it's an everyone thing. Here's an article about how governments and non-profits are using salons and the like to help educate people about things, like getting help for domestic violence https://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-barbershops-hair-salons-illinois.html https://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-barbershops-hair-s... Recently in the medical drama New Amsterdam one of the main characters tried to set up a clinic in a low-income neighborhood barber shop (and it was likely taken directly from this real news https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/cutting-hair-blood-pressure-how-black-barbershops-can-save-lives-n855771 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/cutting-hair-blo... ). Why do you think there is a line of films called Barbershop? Or that on shows and movies of yesteryear, like The Andy Griffith Show, barbershops were hubs of the community where the men went (and still do) go to socialize? https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-essay-interview https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-... https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-ba... https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-are-back-and-bucking-retail-trends/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-a... https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-american-barbershop/ https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-amer... https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-trend-will-not-fade-away https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-tre... https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-seen-a-resurgence-in-popularity https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-see... https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbershops-are-making-a-trendy-comeback https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbersh...

catalogia 7y ago

There is a certain sort of personality that despises that sort of human contact. But I don't expect they're a large enough portion of the population to make such a robot commercially viable. (Also that demographic is already served by hair-cutting vacuum cleaner gadgets.)

opportune 7y ago
Usually I find barbers don’t even try talking to me because they tend to be older and their clients tend to be older so they don’t know what to say. And I look a lot younger than I am. Not that I want to talk to them anyway, due to awkwardness, but seeing all the other barbers talking to their clients and mine not even trying to talk to me somehow makes it even worse
- catalogia 7y ago
  My barber always leaves a TV running in the corner. If you're in a talkative mood he's more than happy to chat, but if you're the quiet sort he's content to work quietly and listen to the TV instead. (I'm not a huge fan of TV, but it's prompted some interesting conversations about motor sports, of which he's a fan but which I know fairly little about.) Before I found my current barber, I used to go to a 'hair salon' sort of place that had very talkative hip young hairdressers. They were always friendly but I found them harder to relate to. It was also a lot more crowded which didn't help, and they always seemed a little disappointed when I asked for a regular haircut.
larnmar 7y ago
Personally I’d love a (competent) hair cutting robot because I simply don’t have time. The only day of the week I can get my hair cut is Saturday; I meant to get it done last Saturday, ran out of time, now I’m going out of town next Saturday and I am stuck looking terrible for the rest of the year. If there were a robot at the mall I could get it done at 9pm on a Tuesday or whenever I have a moment.
- tomjakubowski 7y ago
  There are barbers who work weird/late hours, you know.
squish78 7y ago
Our species spent a million years forming complex social bonds and we're doing our damnedest to engineer them away

BurningFrog 7y ago

Not all human interaction, surely? Trying to turn on my "fun conversationalist" module with a stranger I have very little in common with can certainly feel like a painful chore for me. Put another way, I'd rather not have to perform.

squish78 7y ago
But your brain chemistry is evolved to seek it as a survival mechanism, is all I’m saying
- Melting_Harps 7y ago
  > But your brain chemistry is evolved to seek it as a survival mechanism, is all I’m saying Shush it with your insightful biochemistry-evolution talk, just nod in agreement to the proponents who would rather make everyone live in the same bleak, isolating life of meaningless distraction that they have. They have all that sweet VC money and we're all here to sell our apps!
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    It's so frustrating right? "I want a robot to cut my hair in 2 minutes because why would I want to have to talk to a human being" Or one that really alarmed me was Rob Rhinehart's (Soylent) comments about groceries https://www.businessinsider.com/soylent-ceo-rob-rhinehart-quotes-about-the-future-of-food-2015-10#on-nature-people-have-this-belief-that-just-because-something-is-natural-its-good-the-natural-state-of-man-is-ignorant-and-starving-and-cold-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/soylent-ceo-rob-rhinehart-qu... >I have not set foot in a grocery store in years. Nevermore will I bumble through endless confusing aisles like a pack-donkey searching for feed while the smell of rotting flesh fills my nostrils and fluorescent lights sear my eyeballs and sappy love songs torture my ears. We're turning into a reclusive, anti-social, afraid of each other, society because those are the types that get funding. Shakespeare was a fortune teller: >And private in his chamber pens himself, >Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, >And makes himself an artificial night. >Black and portentous must this humor prove >Unless good counsel may the cause remove. I don't want to spend all of my time alone, staring at one display or another, interacting with code or algorithm-selected content. Thank you for being one of the sane ones that sees the absurdity of it!

pier25 7y ago

Not all human interaction is desirable

ryanmercer 7y ago
Barber shops are traditionally, and presently, social gathering spots. Go to proper barber shops, not hair cutting chains, and you'll see people just sitting around hanging out talking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber >Barbershops are also places of social interaction and public discourse. In some instances, barbershops are also public forums. They are the locations of open debates, voicing public concerns, and engaging citizens in discussions about contemporary issues. https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/community-roles-barber-shop-and-beauty-salon https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/community-roles-barber-shop-and-b... >Since the turn of the 19th century, beauty salons and barber shops have served as special places among African Americans. They have been places not only to get hair care services but locations where black people could be vulnerable and talk about issues of importance in the community. There were spaces where customers played games such as chess, cards, and dominoes, while having conversations about local gossip, politics, and community affairs. And this isn't just an African American thing, it's a white thing, it's a Hispanic thing, it's an everyone thing. Here's an article about how governments and non-profits are using salons and the like to help educate people about things, like getting help for domestic violence https://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-barbershops-hair-salons-illinois.html https://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-barbershops-hair-s... Recently in the medical drama New Amsterdam one of the main characters tried to set up a clinic in a low-income neighborhood barber shop (and it was likely taken directly from this real news https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/cutting-hair-blood-pressure-how-black-barbershops-can-save-lives-n855771 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/cutting-hair-blo... ). Why do you think there is a line of films called Barbershop? Or that on shows and movies of yesteryear, like The Andy Griffith Show, barbershops were hubs of the community where the men went (and still do) go to socialize? https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-essay-interview https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/23/black-barbershops-photo-... https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/fear-black-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-barbershop/ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/rediscovering-the-ba... https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-are-back-and-bucking-retail-trends/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/07/06/barbershops-a... https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-american-barbershop/ https://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/resurgence-of-the-great-amer... https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-trend-will-not-fade-away https://business.mindbody.io/education/blog/barber-shops-tre... https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-seen-a-resurgence-in-popularity https://nearsay.com/c/456502/306271/why-barbershops-have-see... https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbershops-are-making-a-trendy-comeback https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/lifestyle/retro-barbersh...