Testing the 'ick' factor: The skull
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
-
WesFox13
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 274
- Joined: 2007-02-14 11:50am
- Location: Sammamish, WA, USA
- Contact:
Eh I wouldn't mind having a real or even a petrified or crystal skull as a decoration on my desk but the head in a jar thing is a bit creepy to me. It's also unnerving because even though the head is dead, if you got one with it's eyes open, you'll have this creepy feeling that you're being watched by it.
My Political Compass:
Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.90
Designation: Libertarian Left (Social Democrat/Democratic Socialist)
Alignment: Chaotic-Good
Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.90
Designation: Libertarian Left (Social Democrat/Democratic Socialist)
Alignment: Chaotic-Good
-
Darth Servo
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 8805
- Joined: 2002-10-10 06:12pm
- Location: Satellite of Love
I hereby propose that anyone who gets overly grossed out by such things should be required to take a good course in anatomy at the nearest college or university ASAP. 
"everytime a person is born the Earth weighs just a little more."--DMJ on StarTrek.com
"You see now you are using your thinking and that is not a good thing!" DMJay on StarTrek.com
"Watching Sarli argue with Vympel, Stas, Schatten and the others is as bizarre as the idea of the 40-year-old Virgin telling Hugh Hefner that Hef knows nothing about pussy, and that he is the expert."--Elfdart
"You see now you are using your thinking and that is not a good thing!" DMJay on StarTrek.com
"Watching Sarli argue with Vympel, Stas, Schatten and the others is as bizarre as the idea of the 40-year-old Virgin telling Hugh Hefner that Hef knows nothing about pussy, and that he is the expert."--Elfdart
I think I'd balk at displaying a skull in my home, but due to its morbidity rather than disgust. I don't find the idea of a clean human skull particularly disgusting, but contemplation of old dead stuff depresses me.
Though being able to show guests the genuine skull of Alexander the Great would be pretty cool.
Though being able to show guests the genuine skull of Alexander the Great would be pretty cool.
-
Lagmonster
- Master Control Program
- Posts: 7719
- Joined: 2002-07-04 09:53am
- Location: Ottawa, Canada
To me, this thread illustrates an interesting piece of human thinking.
A human head is visually recognizable, not just symbolic, and makes us squirm, because it directly represents one particular dead person - a skull could be *anyone*, because we can't see its features, so we can't picture it smiling, laughing, or being alive.
A skull in itself might make some people feel morbid, but put it in a museum and everyone will at least put a hand on it to feel what it's like.
And Alexander the Great's skull suddenly crosses both lines - we can imagine Alexander alive, and visualize him, but suddenly it's an abstract souvenir which we can see value or pride in owning, even though you could swap it out for any other skull and not know the difference on a purely visual level.
A human head is visually recognizable, not just symbolic, and makes us squirm, because it directly represents one particular dead person - a skull could be *anyone*, because we can't see its features, so we can't picture it smiling, laughing, or being alive.
A skull in itself might make some people feel morbid, but put it in a museum and everyone will at least put a hand on it to feel what it's like.
And Alexander the Great's skull suddenly crosses both lines - we can imagine Alexander alive, and visualize him, but suddenly it's an abstract souvenir which we can see value or pride in owning, even though you could swap it out for any other skull and not know the difference on a purely visual level.
Note: I'm semi-retired from the board, so if you need something, please be patient.