Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

You're pretty much going to look like an unshaven you...
If you want to see what this will look like (aside from an exact copy of you with hair on your face), you can do it in photoshop... so you don't waste your time and disappoint your parents while doing it.

Not shaving is purely a practical thing... You don't want to have to perform the same ritual every morning before work/school/life. Thus... "**** you guys, I has a beard. It looks ridiculous, but I'm being a more efficient human than you are!".

Whether it's optically preferable is irrelevant. If you're not an idiot, you'll have a beard because it's just easier than not having one. And if you're an idiot with a degree in futility, you'll argue about the definition of "easy".

Grow a beard because it's logical.
Shave it when it's logical as well.