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Comment by Angostura | Hacker News Reader

> exposes the neck, which is the most vulnerable part of the body.

This sounds entirely made up. Especially for that portion of the population with external genitalia

Yes, good point! If you visit a slaughterhouse you'll see that none of the workers bother with the male animals' necks, because that would just be pointless. Death comes much more quickly and reliably when they are simply kicked in the balls.

I imagine it's not so much about how exposed it is in the moment (because evolutionarily we didn't have to worry about things like guns), but rather how quickly you can move to protect it when you're starting off vulnerable and someone has suddenly moved to attack you.

Protecting your genitalia, when standing/sitting, is as simple as bending forward slightly and pinching your thighs together. Protecting your neck requires, at the very least, rotating your whole upper body and leaning to interpose your shoulders between you and your attacker. Much harder to do in a third of a second when you see a kick flying at you.

Is it not likewise considered an indication of trust to expose the genitalia to someone?

I prefer to start with a handshake.

Indeed - genitalia exposure typically comes much later in the trust building procession.

You have your genitalia covered up during social encounters, do you not?

Not with a cricket box

Sound of crickets

Sure, but hip angle is obvious.

You can google "neck psychology" to verify.

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