Testing the 'ick' factor: The skull

[Lagmonster]

This is something that I remember from a long time ago; up until the 1900s, people were not delicate about death - thousands lined up to see William Corder executed, and over 5000 people are recorded as having paid to file past the murderer's cut-up remains after the dissection. In addition, the idea that corpses should be hidden away from view and sequestered in private buildings is new - it used to be that bodies were literally propped up in the living room while everyone sat around grieving.

So what I want to know is this: Let's say somebody asked you to take possession of a man's skull and display it in your home. You don't know whose skull it is, other than it belonged to an adult male who died of natural causes. Would you do it?

Would it make a difference if it were the exhumed skull of Alexander the Great?

Would it make a difference if it were instead a whole preserved head in a jar?

Most people I know would or have displayed skull iconography, imagery, or items which resemble skulls, and it's a very common symbol that doesn't even seem to creep children out at Halloween. But most people I find wouldn't be able to accept having an actual skull that used to belong to an actual person in their home. Their stance magically changes when I change the scenario to "somebody PAID you", because where there's money involved, personal squeamishness fades. Although no amount of money seems to be able to get people to go for the preserved head, it takes surprisingly little to coax people into accepting the skull, and for a reason I don't understand people are almost always willing to take Alexander's skull for free.

[Masami von Weizegger]

No, why would I? To prove to some bozo I'm not scared of skulls? I'm not interested in skull iconography so I wouldn't take it for the sheer fun of having a skull.

If I was paid? Sure, I like money as much as the next person. If it were Alexander the Great's? Sure, if I could sell it at auction, otherwise no. Preserved head? Well, that's a trickier subject, I think. A skull, even of a famous person, does not seem so 'real' to most people, perhaps because of the regularity of skull iconography and the like, while a preserved, whole, human head is much more 'real'.

[Lagmonster]

No, why would I? To prove to some bozo I'm not scared of skulls? I'm not interested in skull iconography so I wouldn't take it for the sheer fun of having a skull.

The point would be, yes, to show that you aren't squeamish about owning, handling or displaying a skull. You can list any number of ethical or monetary or stylistic reasons to not have a skull on display, but that's not the point - the point is to find out whether your main reason for turning down the skull would be the ick factor, not because its colour clashes with your wallpaper.

[loomer]

Yes. But then, I already have model skulls and a cattle skull on the verandah. So why not have another of the delightful ornaments?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Yes, I would do the skull, yes, even if it was Alexander's (in fact that would be cooler). But then, I am a devout 40K nut, so skull iconography is like second nature to me.

The preserved head, however, probably not. That's a wee bit morbid for my tastes, though the main problem is the uncanny valley, I think.

[Kanastrous]

I'd display a skull. Not the head, though, purely on aesthetic grounds. There's a clean-ness of line to skeletal components that's lacking in a wad of fluid-logged head-flesh.

I've handled corpses; bodies and body parts do not intrinsically freak me out.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Neither creep me out, so I would take both skulls and the preserved head. Though I am the type of person who would like to have a collection of preserved specimens (animals, not people) one day so a human head would fit nicely in that... Provided I was assured of the legality

[salm]

Skulls are obviously asocciated with death.
I think death is something society is more and more scared of and has become more and more of a taboo.
Back in The Days™ for example child mortality was a lot higher and the risks of dying of deceases was a lot higher as well. Every body had lost people they knew. Nowadays (at least in western societies) most people get in contact with death the first time when they´re grown up and one of their grandparent dies. And even then it´s mostly not a sudden death but a death that you could see coming for years and then when it happens it generally happens in an anonymous retirement home for senior citizens.

To make it short, we´re simply not "used to" death and therefore fear it more than the older generations.

[General Zod]

Most people I know would or have displayed skull iconography, imagery, or items which resemble skulls, and it's a very common symbol that doesn't even seem to creep children out at Halloween. But most people I find wouldn't be able to accept having an actual skull that used to belong to an actual person in their home. Their stance magically changes when I change the scenario to "somebody PAID you", because where there's money involved, personal squeamishness fades. Although no amount of money seems to be able to get people to go for the preserved head, it takes surprisingly little to coax people into accepting the skull, and for a reason I don't understand people are almost always willing to take Alexander's skull for free.

Skulls themselves wouldn't necessarily bother me, but if I'm putting it on display for other people to look at, I better damn well be getting paid to let them come in and out of my pad. As far as displaying a head, that depends on whether or not it's "preserved" or still "gooey".

[Molyneux]

This is something that I remember from a long time ago; up until the 1900s, people were not delicate about death - thousands lined up to see William Corder executed, and over 5000 people are recorded as having paid to file past the murderer's cut-up remains after the dissection. In addition, the idea that corpses should be hidden away from view and sequestered in private buildings is new - it used to be that bodies were literally propped up in the living room while everyone sat around grieving.

So what I want to know is this: Let's say somebody asked you to take possession of a man's skull and display it in your home. You don't know whose skull it is, other than it belonged to an adult male who died of natural causes. Would you do it?

Would it make a difference if it were the exhumed skull of Alexander the Great?

Would it make a difference if it were instead a whole preserved head in a jar?

Most people I know would or have displayed skull iconography, imagery, or items which resemble skulls, and it's a very common symbol that doesn't even seem to creep children out at Halloween. But most people I find wouldn't be able to accept having an actual skull that used to belong to an actual person in their home. Their stance magically changes when I change the scenario to "somebody PAID you", because where there's money involved, personal squeamishness fades. Although no amount of money seems to be able to get people to go for the preserved head, it takes surprisingly little to coax people into accepting the skull, and for a reason I don't understand people are almost always willing to take Alexander's skull for free.

I would say 'no' to all three, not because of any squeamishness...but simply because I don't have room for something the size of a human head to put on display in my house.

[CubicleGestapo]

Is there any wallpaper that doesn't clash with a juicy head in a jar?

[Darth Wong]

Most people would think it was a fake skull anyway. It's not as if fake skulls are rare.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

I'd be all about having a skull on the mantel, maybe with a few femur or humerus bones as an X below it, right by my targets on the wall.

Hey, anyone have a skull they're not using, say, ray245 or Badme?

[Admiral Valdemar]

I'd prefer a crystal one, but I'd have no qualms with handling a real one. I've seen much worse than a clinically cleaned human headcase.

[Enigma]

Though I'd love to have both and maybe take the head out and play with it but I would have to refuse for two reasons. One would be my wife and the other is the legality issues of possessing human remains.

[Prometheus Unbound]

I'd actually quite like a real skull. I wouldn't buy a fake one, as that's a bit crap in my opinion - if you want a skull get a real one. I'm not sure on the pricing or legality of a real human skull. If it was less than £50, I might buy one.

Pickled head in a jar? No, I'd rather not - but then I'd rather not have picked anything in a jar, be it a head, a hand, a dead rat or some gherkins.

[Civil War Man]

I'd take the skull. Probably set it up in a way that is macabre yet hilarious.

As for the head in a jar, it's harder to get that in a place where it isn't out of place asthetically. I mean, unless I had this Frankenstein-style laboratory.

[Dark Flame]

Skull, probably.

Head, definitely not. Yup, it's the ick factor for me. I've seen and handled dead organisms preserved in jars, and there's......something..... about them that just scares me.

[FSTargetDrone]

Though I'd love to have both and maybe take the head out and play with it but I would have to refuse for two reasons. One would be my wife and the other is the legality issues of possessing human remains.

Pah, skulls. Speaking of legality, how about a mummified baby that's been passed down through a family as a keepsake?

Yes, there is a picture of said mummified baby at the link, so don't freak if you click it.

As to skulls? The girlfriend would think it weird, so no. And I'm not big on displaying animal remains around, human or otherwise.

Head in a jar? After seeing Silence Of The Lambs, I think that's a no-no.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Skull: Provided it's legal, what the hell?

Severed head? Probably not. It'd wig too many people out.

[Covenant]

Yeah, I'm not sure I know of too many ways to display a head in a jar without getting the cops on my ass, or offending all my guests. It's kinda gross, but being paid would again ease the pain. It becomes, at least, a macbre sort of conversation piece.

And by making it Alexander's skull or someone famous, it becomes a show-piece of sorts, which again justifies it being there. If I had the Head of Joesph Stalin or something, that would certainly be a curiosity, and might justify the otherwise troublesome presence of a head in a jar.

It's really not hard to imagine. Where am I gonna stick it? Let's say it was a realistic wax replica. People are still going to be bothered. Even if it's an UNREALISTIC wax replica, it becomes irksome just because it's wierd and there's no good place for it. Now, I certainly could devise a cool way to display it, but I'd need some serious cash.

[defanatic]

Skull or head, sure.... But I wouldn't take the preserved head if the eyes were open.

[Kanastrous]

Not even if they tracked you as you moved about the room?

[Shogoki]

I actually have a real skull, I got it from a friend who at the time was in med school, he got it from a really old display (or whatever they are called) skeleton (like, 1930's old, or so he told me) some teacher had but he was retiring and his wife didn't want the thing in her house so he got rid of it, and my pal ended up keeping the skull somehow, it has some metal joints holding the jaw, one where the spine was supposed to connect and one on top where i guess it hanged or something.

Now i have it wearing a fedora and my old glasses, I call it Murray, the evil demonic skull.

[Kanastrous]

Evil, or just misunderstood?