I read a post in another thread that really started me thinking. The post was in relation to the ages of straight shavers. I was surprised by how many younger people out there are straight users compared to those of us in the late 30's and older. After my post another member expressed his thoughts as follows in part, "...-rather than an individual's age it could be more about timing - being here in the early 21st century with the internet and SRP, making information more available. Even for many of the older guys who have dabbled with the SR, it has been SRP that has rekindled their interest..."
I was ready to accept that out of hand as it makes sense. Then I got to thinking, it may be right for some, and this may be what happened, but then I thought that this idea might actually come second in the process. Myself personally, I was living in ignorant bliss using ordinary bath soap and a twin blade cartridge to shave in the shower...There was no need for me to change. It was working for me. So what happened?!
It wasn't the technology i.e. internet, that made me change. Certainly living in the 20th/21st century had me wondering of times not so distant and beyond and what life was like then. Here in Australia 200 years of white history meant that things progressed quite rapidly to bring us up to par with the rest of the world.
With all this thinking, I came to the conclusion that what needs to come first is the wondering, the inquisitive mind, the thoughtful. The technological age has just made it easier to fuel the fires of the thinker. It doesn't make you think, it just is. The individual that is, or for me, gradually becomes, a thinker is the one who looks for a better way to do things. The thinker is the one that looks to the past to try to improve the future, and the thinker is the one who figures out that sometimes the old ways of doing things are better, and so, reverts back to the old way of doing things.
There would be a lot of room in all this for the nuances of the individuals life and experiences of course, so feel free to disagree. It's just a thought that came to me...I like to think...I think.


Mick