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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works to c/til@lemmy.world

for background, I shaved my forearms for practicing methods of shaving my legs. low-key a mistake, don't think id recommend shaving arms lol

I picked up a pizza after getting a shower and to dry out my hair faster I didn't turn on the AC, was in a hot car in Florida for like 5m while it cooked and this is what happened. Pretty cool!

Edit: also it's interesting to visualize how much water is lost when you sweat

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[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 103 points 1 week ago

It does that when you don't shave too.

[-] Gladaed@feddit.org 19 points 1 week ago

No, it does not for the hairs distribute it. This beading is unusual on arms.

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago

Guess it varies by individual, I am hairy but sweat still beads up if it's hot enough or I work out hard enough.

[-] Poojabber@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Thats the beauty of being fat and hairy. We do both!

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Hey I'm not fat, I'm just storing energy for later.

[-] stringere@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 week ago

I find your water discipline lacking. May Shai Hulud forgive you.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 33 points 1 week ago

Turning the ac on with heat will help pull moisture out of air! Ac is a natural dehumidifer.

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 week ago
[-] fartographer@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

AC... Natural...

Dehum-idifier...

Need I say more?

[-] MurrayL@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Just dropping in to say what follows in this thread is the most pointless, overblown argument I’ve seen in a very long time.

Full-on, unironically, arguing over dictionary definitions with each other and trading insults.

This is what the internet does to some people. Look on and despair.

[-] indepndnt@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Oh my God, you weren't exaggerating.

[-] leftytighty@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago

Follows in what way? Chronologically? Am I to believe you're predicting the future?

[-] fartographer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

And yooooooouuuu read it! Behold our hubris and bask in our rage.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yes, what’s so confusing?

Water freezes to the coils, and the heat melts it and it drips out of the vehicle. Same process happens inside houses too, but it drips into a drain instead.

[-] fartographer@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

I'd argue that hot humid air condensing on a cold stone might be a natural dehumidifier, but I'm not sure that refrigerant being compressed in a high-pressure system and then allowed to rapidly decompress through coils captured in dense arrays of metal fins while a fan blows across them qualifies as a "natural" process.

Anyway, I was just being a little silly about describing an Air Conditioner's primary function as a natural process.

Then I realized it could come off as a little mean, so I selectively and deliberately misconstrued "dehumidify" in a way to make myself sound like a conspiracy theorist.

Now, let's put on our foil hats and speculate wildly instead of explaining our comments! THEY want us to fight so that they can take our McRibs!

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Are you arguing physics aren’t a part of nature…?

Also, natural has more than a single definition, you’re being intentionally obtuse by focusing on one. It also doesn’t mean it’s part of “nature”.

[-] naught101@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

By that logic everything is natural (not arguing this point), and so the adjective is redundant an unnecessary.

[-] seralth@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I would argue that anti matter by that logic is unnatural!

[-] Womble@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Anti mater is routinely created in the nature. X-ray telescopes can see it being created and destroyed all over the universe.

[-] fartographer@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Are you arguing physics aren’t a part of nature…?

I... Uhhh... I'm not even sure where to start with that... Like, I see the point you're trying to prove, but in the context of your initial comment, it's confusing at best. When you see an airplane flying overhead, leveraging Bernoulli's Principle to seemingly levitate at speed (similar to how air conditioners leverage Bernoulli's Principle to displace heat outside of the area in which you want your air conditioned, and to evaporate refrigerant inside that area), do you point at it and say "ain't nature grand?!" Even an ornithopter, which also leverages Bernoulli's Principle, but uses the natural motion of birds flapping their wings, would still get you odd looks if you called it a part of nature. But I feel like you probably don't call planes or any other man-made vehicles parts of nature. Likely, you're phrasing your question around evaporation, a very natural process, but your initial comment didn't say "evaporation is natural." So, by taking my comment about air conditioners, boiling it down to being about physics, not the fact that it's a man-made appliance that you plug in to achieve anything, you're attempting to frame an argument out of context. But if you want me to follow you down your rabbit hole of bad faith arguments, then here we go! You only specified physics, are you arguing that chemistry isn't part of nature...?

natural has more than a single definition

I fail to see which one of dictionary.com’s 38 definitions of natural supports calling an air conditioner a natural dehumidifier. While all forms of air conditioning over time have used some form of energy differential to remove hot air, only the modern electric air conditioner (the kind that's actually called an "air conditioner") specifically condenses air moisture into a mechanism specifically designed to then remove that moisture from the system entirely. In fact, the original electric air conditioning unit was installed at a publishing company to control the humidity and keep the paper from buckling. The term "air conditioning" was later coined when people experimented with reintroducing moisture into airflow systems, proving that they can truly control the temperature and humidity of an area, a process similar to "water conditioning," which was a more well-known term.

you’re being intentionally obtuse

If an air conditioner's primary function is removing moisture from air, it would be just as awkward to call it a "natural dehumidifier" as it would be to call a pitching machine a "natural pitcher." An air conditioner isn't "naturally" a dehumidifier, it's literally a dehumidifier. It's naturally a white noise machine, or it naturally causes nosebleeds if you run it with the heater on in the winter, or it's naturally able to be used as a filtration system when you use it with the proper Merv-rated HEPA filter.

Calling an air conditioner a "natural dehumidifier" makes it sound like its purpose is cooling and it just so happens to condense and sink away moisture, but it literally does that by design. Refusing to acknowledge that diminishes the effort, science, and engineering that went into inventing it as an appliance. Hand-waiving that away removes people's ability to intuitively understand things like sweating (a thing that naturallycools you off) or wet-bulb temperature, which when factoring in global warming means that sweating could eventually not cool you down naturally.

Toilet paper isn't naturally absorbent, it is designed to be that; paper towel designs don't naturally prevent layers from sticking together, they are designed specifically for that reason; hard candies aren't naturally sweet, they're designed that way. Differentiating is important to demystify rather than confuse the topic.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I fail to see which one of dictionary.com’s 38 definitions of natural supports calling an air conditioner a natural dehumidifier.

It’s not a “natural humidifier” why are you clumping those two words into a singular item?

Also…

There’s your own TIL, you can make a post now! You really are intentionally obtuse, you literally explained how an ac naturally dehumidifies that air, but dance around using the proper term since you’ve got it in your head that it was misused, even so far as to ignore a dictionary definition.

Edit, here’s another

Nothing to do with nature or anything else, but bloviate dude.

And here’s professionals using the term.

Here’s why this happens: Your AC acts as a natural dehumidifier. During the air cooling process, moisture is collected from the air, condensed on coils, and then drained away.

How many more examples do you need? I can go and find a special example for each of your asinine claims here.

[-] fartographer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

It’s not a “natural humidifier” why are you clumping those two words into a singular item?

I don't think I called it a "natural humidifier" anywhere. I called it a "natural dehumidifier," the same as you did in your original comment.

SchmidtGenetics’s original comment

Also…

The definition and example you've chosen addresses an expected reaction. An air conditioner is a dehumidifier. In your chosen example given in that definition on dictionary.com, your original comment would be more akin to saying, "When the fist landed forcefully on his face, it was natural that he was punched in the face."

You really are intentionally obtuse, you literally explained how an ac naturally dehumidifies that air, but dance around using the proper term since you’ve got it in your head that it was misused, even so far as to ignore a dictionary definition.

I want to either take responsibility for or deny whatever it is you're saying here, but I'm not sure what you're saying. This isn't me trying to throw in a burn by personally attacking you and saying that you don't know how to communicate. I think I'm just confused by the wording. There are probably millions of other people to whom this makes sense, but I'm probably misreading what you wrote. I believe you're saying that I'm explaining that an ac "naturally" dehumidifies the air, but I'm avoiding using the word "naturally" because I believe that your use of "naturally" was improper, so much so that I'm willing to ignore the definition of the word naturally. But I don't want to misconstrue your words because any argument I'd make would be about using a word to define that same word, which doesn't progress our discourse.

Edit, here’s another

"Without special help or intervention" with the example of "naturally curly hair" is literally describing part of nature: the way that hair grows. If someone wore a curly wig, I don't think that they'd tell you they have naturally curly hair. When you say that an air conditioner is naturally a humidifier, it sounds the same to me as someone saying that a lever naturally can be used for leverage—yes, that's why it's called what it is, because it does what it does. Is an automobile naturally a cart that moves without a horse pushing or pulling it? No, that's literally what it is. That's why it's called an automobile. An air conditioner is called that because it itself is a dehumidifier. It's not "naturally" a dehumidifier, it was designed to be a dehumidifier. The argument you're trying to make is the same as Futurama’s joke about Wireless Joe and Pitch-o-mat 5000 being literal versus figurative blernsball machines.

Nothing to do with nature or anything else

What a thought-terminating argument. Nothing to do with nature or anything else! Are you arguing that your words mean what you intended because you said them? Slow down there, Veruca Salts.

but bloviate dude

I don't know why you're trying to turn this argument personal, but very well. That's a good one dollar word! And you used this one correctly, way to go! If you wanted to sound fancy in the first place and the correct word, "literally," seemed too pedestrian, you could instead substitute "ipso facto." Since an ac, by the fact of being an air conditioner is itself a dehumidifier.

I normally try not to be so challenging about people misusing words, but you're just stubborn and self-righteous enough to remind me of my father and that's gotten under my skin.

Anyway, it's obvious that neither of us is a linguist not enough of an expert to split hairs like this, since we can't agree on the meaning of definitions of words. If anyone with some knowledge wants to weigh in and tell me I'm being pedantic, I'll begrudgingly eat crow.

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

Let me try to illustrate how the word “natural” doesn’t apply here by providing a parallel example. Everyone agrees that humans are animals, but if I went on a vacation to another country and said “I enjoyed my trip, the local fauna were very friendly” it would be wrong/not ok.

[-] Fortatech@gregtech.eu 6 points 1 week ago
[-] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago
[-] baldingpudenda@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Me coming after doing some gardening and drenched in sweat:

[-] SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 5 points 1 week ago

And the heat then means the air can absorb more moisture.

You want hot dry air for maximum evaporation.

[-] Gladaed@feddit.org 31 points 1 week ago

This also is a cautionary tale: hairs make sweating more efficient as the water distributes better.

[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

preposterous! hairy girls are way hotter.

[-] Gladaed@feddit.org 8 points 1 week ago

And they can be! Safely! For the power of hairs!

[-] Jakule17@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They’re not, better distribution of sweat means that they’re cooling more efficiently

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

It also beads up when you don't shave. Had that yesterday with my hairy gorilla arms when sitting still and trying to cool off.

[-] colourlessidea@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 week ago

+1, not sure if shaving has anything to do with it. You can see this beading up quite easily in a sauna for example

[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago

Sweat is stored in the balls.

[-] BleatingZombie@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Mine seems to be stored ON my balls

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

was in a hot car in Florida for like 5m

Dang, must have been really hot for you to start sweating like this after just 5 meters. 🙃

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 12 points 1 week ago

It's Florida - OP was sweating like this in the first meter

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Have been to Florida in the summer a few times, can confirm. Once I went jogging under the sun. Not sure why I was trying to play a hero that day.

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 2 points 1 week ago

Yea that was silly.

I spent some time there for work in different places and seasons.

Fall/Winter on the gulf coast is freakin beautiful. You can go running then.

I've played a fair amount of golf in different seasons, even summer isn't too bad if you're by the coast to get the coastal breeze. But fuck running that time of year, haha.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Young and dumb, I was. Flew over for young love. Wasted years that I wish I could get back...

[-] macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Mid-key no. Sweat always comes of of pores.

[-] Drusas@fedia.io 9 points 1 week ago

Shaving one's arms is weirdly common among women in Japan.

[-] PartyAt15thAndSummit@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

Balkans, too. And, of course, Turkey. In fact, apart from the North Atlantic Rim and Scandinavia, it's kind of common in Europe, especially when compared to the US.
For women. that is. For (black) men, the US seems to take the lead.

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 week ago

God that would be so itchy. I shaved everything once for drag. Never again. Now I peer pressure women to stop shaving instead.

[-] UnpledgedCatnapTipper 2 points 1 week ago

If you do it at least semi regularly it isn't really itchy (at least in my experience)!

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 week ago

Dogs must look at you like 🤤

this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
282 points (100.0% liked)

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