"The Silly Theory That Almost Kept Darwin ..." Topic

…From Going on His Famous Voyage.

"The other day I had what could be considered a bit of an … overreaction. On a crowded train during my morning commute to WIRED there was an old lady who looked kinda mean sitting with her purse splayed on the seat next to her. What a savage, I thought, someone should put her in a home. OK, I wasn't serious, and there are of course worse offenses in the world, but in retrospect, what was interesting and admittedly kind of rotten about my reaction was that I judged her by her looks. She had a droopy face and downturned mouth, so clearly she must be miserable and mean.

It's patently silly, but in a way it isn't. We're evolutionarily programmed to read our peers' faces. For instance, a scowling, red-faced raging person is probably best avoided, if not getting roughed up is in your best interest. Good judgement could mean the difference between falling victim to a dangerous character and rightly keeping your distance and escaping unharmed. Not that I was afraid of the old lady. I want to be very clear about that.

A couple thousand years ago some folks were apparently so worried about all this that they thought up a little something called physiognomy—the "art" of reading a human's personality in their face. Bird-like features meant a bird-like personality, and by using this system you could figure out who to avoid without even speaking to them. But this was no fringe movement: Charles Darwin himself was judged by the physiognomist captain of the Beagle and nearly barred from the voyage. And if you can believe it, there are still physiognomists out there practicing this bunk and charging people for it, making outrageous claims like you can tell if a person is wealthy or not by their nose (I'm not kidding—oh how I wish I were kidding). Weirdly, though, there may be a tiny bit of truth to ascribing certain personality traits to certain physical traits…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Dear Armand

Ah yes-- Nomen est Omen, phrenology, and all the other theories that people cram their heads full of.

But don't be discouraged. At least it's got SOME thought to it.

Monday I saw a "man on the Street" interview by a reporting asking People, "What did you think of Martin Luther's King's speech he gave today?" or "Do you think he's put on weight in the last few years?" and the responses were something along the lines of "It was great, I think he was in finest form and did well." or "Yeah he has, but that can happen to all of us.

Ah, America :).

You can probably at least tell if they're wealthy enough to buy tissues.

This applies to most country's, and its toilet paper :)
But as they say a spade is a spade, so I go by the look of the object, no use saying the snake didn't 'look' poisonous while having anti venom pumped into you at the hospital. And from the pictures of Darwin I'd also have reservations :) that beard!
Cheers here's to making friends with the weird and unloved, you never know what wisdom you might find.