Sorry to bump a year old thread.
STR8UP, you have the weight of logic, reason, evidence and experience on your side. The other guys simply have age old inaccurate prejudices.
This thread has really opened my eyes to some new possibilities. I have a full head of hair, but last year I got a bit panicked as I noticed some shedding in the shower. I didn't know at the time that it's a normal part of the hair growth/regrowth cycle to shed old hairs. I thought that's it, the process of balding had started. It really pyssed me off initially, but in only a week or so I came to accept that in time I would be one of those bald guys. Since then, I did some research and found out that shedding hairs was normal, and not necessarily a sign of balding. Phew, I was very relieved.
I admit it, I think being bald is a "flaw". Not a fatal flaw. By no means do I think a bald person can't enjoy life every bit as much (or even more) than fully haired guy. Not at all. But, out of the two, hair or no hair, I definitely think having hair is infinitely more desirable.
Now, if what str8up says is true about hair pieces (I havne't researched, I'm only taking his word), that means that even if I am slated to one day go bald, I won't have to worry, because this hair piece fix sounds awesome.
To me, the main thing with hair pieces is:
(a) does it look good?
(b) does it look real?
(c) is it undetectable (or close to)?
(d) what are the chances of being ridiculed?
So far, it seems to look good and real and is very hard, or almost impossible to detect. Cool. What are the chances that I will be ridiculed for it? Well, the main way this would happen is if it somehow came off where I didn't want it to -- sex, at the beach, in the wind, etc. Apparently, the chances of this are pretty much zero. In this case, I don't have a problem with it.
As for the "it's fake" arguments. Those are not based on any deep analysis or logic at all.
Clothes are fake. We cover our bodies with materials that come from other animals or plants or are synthesized in laboratories. Can it get more "fake"? Does anyone care? No, it's normal and is a huge enhancement on the "natural" look.
Make-up. Fake as. Anyone care? No, because it looks way better than the real thing. I don't have a problem with a girl wearing "too much make-up", as long as it looks GOOD. Problem is, "too much make-up" usually looks really BAD. But if it looked good, I wouldn't have a problem with it.
Hair-coloring, hair extensions. Fake and fake. Look good? You betcha. This girl I had once, first night I picked her up she was wearing these hair extensions (somehow the topic came up; I never would have known -- I'm a guy, it's not my job to know that shyyt). I remarked they looked really good on her. Every time I saw her afterwards, she always wore them. Did it bother me? Not even slightly. I wanted her to look better. Fake? Who cares!
Plastic surgery? Fake as. Problem? Not for me, not even remotely. Some guys, for reasons I cannot comprehend, have a problem with fake tyts. Not me: I think they look way better than the real thing on 90% of chicks.
Another girl I had had this umm, not so good looking nose. The rest of her was very attractive to me-- obviously, 'cos I was with her. But that nose, while not fatal, just did not look good. Would surgery have improved her? Absolutely!
This whole world is built on image, on appearance. Appearance may not be everything, but it is a HELL OF A LOT. Therefore, improving your appearance, no matter how you do it, helps you to feel better.
That is why I reject all these "you must have issues" "you must be insecure" arguments. Even the happiest, most confident, most secure of us still make efforts to dress nicely. Why? Because, as good as we feel, we feel even better when we look better. Pretty much all of us would agree that we look better in a stylish new suit than in shorts and a t-shirt. Does that mean only "insecure" people bother to dress nicely? No. (Or, if it does, then we are all insecure.)
Same thing with the hair. It's just no different at all. If you can get away with fake hair that looks and feels real, that 99% of people will never know is any different, then geez, do it. I know I would.
In fact, I'm thinking of doing it even though I'm not going bald. I have really thick hair and if I try to grow it long it just doesn't look good at all. So I have always had short hair. But I would really like to try a longer "shaggy" haired look. This hair piece thing might just be my ticket.
Would I give a shyt about being "found out"? Not unless it happened in an embarrassing way, like it being pulled off my head at a club. (Since that, apaprently, can't happen, I'm safe.) Otherwise if people just naturally find out, even through my friends betraying my secret or something like that, they can laugh all they want. In this sense I am definitely secure enough not to let that bother me.
Is all of this "shallow"? According to the popular defintion, yes. The popular definition being that if you allow appearance to count for anything, you are shallow. Or, rather, since everybody ACTS like appearance is important, despite what they may SAY, someone is shallow if he ADMITS that appearance counts for anything. So according to that, yeah, I'm shallow. (Of course, that's only on the net. In real life, I'm like everyone else. I PRETEND that appearance doesn't matter, that looks are only "skin deep", but, just like everyone else, I live my life in a way that reveals appearance is actually very important.)
PS - wyldfire, lol. If a guy wearing a hair piece can convince everyone that it is real, then HELL YES his experience of the world is improved. No question. If a hair piece helped an otherwise bald guy lay a victoria's secret model, wouldn't that be an example of improved life? I think so. Also dear, the world doesn't care about your problems with your 34Ds. To most guys you would look better with your bigger tyts than with smaller ones. Your shopping problems are your own; the rest of us are infinitely more concerned with hwo you look.