#having to read a hundred footnotes about atavism... we get it... criminal ugly... because evil

[ghostbees]

A century after it was first developed, phrenology—the discredited theory that one’s mental characteristics can influence the shape of their skull—was seen as outdated; yet the Canon abounds with references to it, or other physiognomic observations. Holmes warns against it multiple times, most notably in The Sign of the Four: “It is of the first importance not to allow your judgement to be biased by personal qualities....the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.” Despite this, many of Holmes’ and Watson’s speculations about people’s characters are rooted in misguided assumptions which correlate physical traits with certain behaviours, ranging from unkind comments to plain old racism.

Our Little Adventures 09/60 | Tumblr | RSS | Newsletter