The Impact of Shaving (or not shaving, as the case may be)

This morning on a lark, I did a general search for “clean shaven” and found some images, photoshopped, of some famous persons and how they might look if they had shaved off their facial hair.  I offer this collage for reactions, thoughts, comments, amusement, random observations, and witty commentary (basically think of this as a kind of “wet shaving enthusiasts Rorschach test with an emphasis on humor”) ....

Key: Hemingway, Col. Sanders, Rasputin, Groucho, and Albert.

Yikes - I like the hairy versions better.  Have you ever seen pictures of James Harden without the beard?

To me, the images that have been photoshopped to be “clean shaven” look weird.  Maybe that’s just because they look different than my memory of these images of these persons.  So they seem odd merely because they are unfamiliar.  Humans tend to be more favorably disposed to the familiar, generally speaking.  I’m impressed that, even with respect to complete strangers, I seem to be biased in favor of the familiar.  Also, I am once again impressed by how transformative the removal of facial hair can seem to be, no matter who the subject is. 

That's funny!