From what I can tell, the benefit is that it gives me the option for another face. If I want to be mildly unrecognizable, I can just grow out my facial hair.
But other than that, I have no idea why men grow beards.
@atomicpoet I wear a beard as my default for a couple of reasons. 1) I'm lazy, so having to shave my face daily is something I'm not into, I can wear a beard and groom weekly instead. 2) having some hair under my chin hides the double chin that is so obvious when I shave.
So long as I look presentable, I give 0 shits whether people like it or not. My wife likes that it is less prickly than stubble so win-win.
I say, I can't understand why any man would want to shave everyday. What say you?
@numbercrow I shave because the colour of my beard is different from the colour of my hair. I have dark brown hair and a flaming red beard. Also, my moustache doesn’t connect to the rest of my beard, so it looks odd.
@atomicpoet I maintain a beard because I like the feel of having it. It is soft, it insulates my face from both cold and being directly touched (to a degree), and it hides skin imperfections that I'd otherwise spend a lot of grooming time to obfuscate.
It's absolutely not for everyone, but I find it to be handy and worth the cost of maintenance. YMMV.