Interestingly, this doesn't mention that, like the tomato and the potato, Syphilis was from
The New World. It’s a disease that caused this hair loss, unlike European diseases which killed a lot of Native Americans. Syphilis caused these issues but didn't cause death. However, it's interesting to note why this trend happened after the year 1492.
> Syphilis caused these issues but didn't cause death
According to Wikipedia it caused 100k deaths in 2015. So either the introduction of penicillin made the disease more fatal than before, or there is something fundamentally incorrect in the statement above.
I'm trying to imagine under what scenarios a person or an entire ship full of people would find the New World and simply not tell anyone about it.
There are some pretty big gaps in the island chains out there in the Atlantic, so it seems less likely that someone from the western hemisphere brought it to the Azores or Cape Verde before Columbus sailed across.
Fishermen may keep quiet about good fishing grounds for commercial reasons. Apparently Basque fishermen visited Greenland and Newfoundland shortly after 1492 and kept fairly quiet about it and it has been suggested that they went there before 1492, but there's no evidence for them being there before 1492, according to Wikipedia.
There was that confusing moment in grade school history class where they casually stated that the pilgrims found a translator among the Indians. Moving on.
Umm... How tf did the Indians have someone who already spoke English? Jamestown isn't exactly a short walk, even if it has been a dozen years.
Yeah because fisherman had already been trading with them. But that's 1620, not 1491. It's reasonable to think fisherman had been leveraging this information a century after it was known.
The fault is in your teachers pretending that the pilgrims discovered jack-all. They meant to be farmers, but did not pack shovels. They were a grumpy religious splinter group that couldn't get along with others, not amazing explorers of the "New World".
It's often mockingly said that they landed when they ran out of beer, which is true, but not because of frustrated frat bro reasons - they ran out of drinking water, more generally. And small beer was more nutritious than intoxicating.
That’s only the first question. Occam’s razor suggests that since almost no cases showed up prior to Columbus, that it was spread by his men. If a few cases show up before that? That’s not usually how infections spread it’s possible a weaker strain was here, maybe one that affected some other species and crossed over.
But if it means someone else got to the Americas first, that’s a cultural bomb that would immortalize your name for documenting. So it’s worth looking at it from one side or the other to determine if the second question is worth the payoff times the probability of being true.
Batteries weren't included, but a good article, nonetheless.
Interesting how baldness used to mean syphilis, few people know that.
What I also find interesting about men's hair is that long hair was common until the war machine came along with the short back and sides. Instead of hair, men got helmets.
The only time Americans got majorly anti-war was during the Vietnam War era, and the counterculture very much meant long hair for men, not a military style buzz cut.
Also fun to know, going grey prematurely isn't just 'genetics', as in that wonderful catch-all for anything medical we don't understand. Vitamin B12 also plays a part. Don't ask me how I know!
The Romans had short hair. The Romans associated short hair with freedom.
My dad, being in the military, had short hair. He said that short hair was practical when living in the mud. Short hair also allowed an enemy to use it as a handle to pull your head back and cut your throat. There are zero pictures of him with any remotely long hair.
I've had short hair for a long time, now. It's super easy to take care of. Doesn't need combing at all. Haircuts are cheap. And I use the top of my head to reflect light onto whatever I'm working on.
That was not the submitted title (the 2020 was added after the SCP resubmit - an hour ago at best, and arguable.. do we use original date or updated date?)
The powered wig is the must-have ubiquitous tech device that everyone has in 2057. It’s our version of your era’s smartphone. It is an AI-powered neural interface used to communicate with people, get the latest news, watch some vids, or even check your emails, if you still do that.
It’s essentially the “killer app” for AI, taking a good 21 years for the tech industry to figure it out. Don’t ask about the form factor, that’s a long story. But I promise it looks less silly when everyone’s wearing one.
Oh, and a little tip from the future: don’t overpower your wig.
Interestingly, this doesn't mention that, like the tomato and the potato, Syphilis was from The New World. It’s a disease that caused this hair loss, unlike European diseases which killed a lot of Native Americans. Syphilis caused these issues but didn't cause death. However, it's interesting to note why this trend happened after the year 1492.
> Syphilis caused these issues but didn't cause death
According to Wikipedia it caused 100k deaths in 2015. So either the introduction of penicillin made the disease more fatal than before, or there is something fundamentally incorrect in the statement above.
It's not nearly as clear-cut as that, as there is evidence of its presence in Europe earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis#History
I'm trying to imagine under what scenarios a person or an entire ship full of people would find the New World and simply not tell anyone about it.
There are some pretty big gaps in the island chains out there in the Atlantic, so it seems less likely that someone from the western hemisphere brought it to the Azores or Cape Verde before Columbus sailed across.
Fishermen may keep quiet about good fishing grounds for commercial reasons. Apparently Basque fishermen visited Greenland and Newfoundland shortly after 1492 and kept fairly quiet about it and it has been suggested that they went there before 1492, but there's no evidence for them being there before 1492, according to Wikipedia.
There was that confusing moment in grade school history class where they casually stated that the pilgrims found a translator among the Indians. Moving on.
Umm... How tf did the Indians have someone who already spoke English? Jamestown isn't exactly a short walk, even if it has been a dozen years.
Yeah because fisherman had already been trading with them. But that's 1620, not 1491. It's reasonable to think fisherman had been leveraging this information a century after it was known.
The fault is in your teachers pretending that the pilgrims discovered jack-all. They meant to be farmers, but did not pack shovels. They were a grumpy religious splinter group that couldn't get along with others, not amazing explorers of the "New World".
It's often mockingly said that they landed when they ran out of beer, which is true, but not because of frustrated frat bro reasons - they ran out of drinking water, more generally. And small beer was more nutritious than intoxicating.
The question is whether syphilis came from the Americas to Europe at all, or whether it was in both places already.
That’s only the first question. Occam’s razor suggests that since almost no cases showed up prior to Columbus, that it was spread by his men. If a few cases show up before that? That’s not usually how infections spread it’s possible a weaker strain was here, maybe one that affected some other species and crossed over.
But if it means someone else got to the Americas first, that’s a cultural bomb that would immortalize your name for documenting. So it’s worth looking at it from one side or the other to determine if the second question is worth the payoff times the probability of being true.
Vikings made it to North America 500 years before Columbus, their colony wasn't working out very well so they left.
Batteries weren't included, but a good article, nonetheless.
Interesting how baldness used to mean syphilis, few people know that.
What I also find interesting about men's hair is that long hair was common until the war machine came along with the short back and sides. Instead of hair, men got helmets.
The only time Americans got majorly anti-war was during the Vietnam War era, and the counterculture very much meant long hair for men, not a military style buzz cut.
Also fun to know, going grey prematurely isn't just 'genetics', as in that wonderful catch-all for anything medical we don't understand. Vitamin B12 also plays a part. Don't ask me how I know!
The Romans had short hair. The Romans associated short hair with freedom.
My dad, being in the military, had short hair. He said that short hair was practical when living in the mud. Short hair also allowed an enemy to use it as a handle to pull your head back and cut your throat. There are zero pictures of him with any remotely long hair.
I've had short hair for a long time, now. It's super easy to take care of. Doesn't need combing at all. Haircuts are cheap. And I use the top of my head to reflect light onto whatever I'm working on.
> Short hair also allowed an enemy to use it as a handle to pull your head back and cut your throat
You meant long hair surely?
Yes. Thanks for pointing out the mistake!
On the "new" page this item reads "powered wig." I thought it was a Team Fortress 2 entry...
The first title was 'powered wig' which I was absolutely sure was a typo but it fueled a five minute think on what exactly a powered wig would do.
No practical answers presented themselves.
It would be practical in strong wind.
EEG input method?
> In 1700, 800 shillings was approximately £40.
Since there were 20 shillings to a pound, 800 shillings were exactly £40. </nitpicking>
38 Guineas .. approximately.
[stub for offtopicness]
That’s a funny typo in the HN headline. :D
Ok, we've powdered the title.
I regret having to correct this one.
(Submitted title was "The rise and fall of the powered wig (2020)") (Edit: without the 2020)
That was not the submitted title (the 2020 was added after the SCP resubmit - an hour ago at best, and arguable.. do we use original date or updated date?)
Oops! you're right. I've added a correction.
:-(
I was wondering, does it light up? Spin on demand? A spinning wig could be a fun party trick.
The powered wig is the must-have ubiquitous tech device that everyone has in 2057. It’s our version of your era’s smartphone. It is an AI-powered neural interface used to communicate with people, get the latest news, watch some vids, or even check your emails, if you still do that.
It’s essentially the “killer app” for AI, taking a good 21 years for the tech industry to figure it out. Don’t ask about the form factor, that’s a long story. But I promise it looks less silly when everyone’s wearing one.
Oh, and a little tip from the future: don’t overpower your wig.
It rises and falls. It's right in the title! Perhaps it has little jets, or maybe a particularly specialized form of antigravity.
Go go gadget hairpiece!
> The rise and fall of the powered wig (2020) (battlefields.org)
s/powered/powdered/g
Perhaps, but I prefer it this way. The 10 horsepower wig is an underserved market.
(2023) Powdered wig
You missed a letter in the headline which makes it more appropriate for hacker news but less accurate.
Yeah, I was hoping that it wasn't a typo!
Ven vill you vear vigs?