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How much can you tell about someone by looking at their handwriting? Do you think theres anything in graphology?
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October 27, 2009 10:21 PM
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Personally, I think "graphology" is like palm reading. Apart from matching handwriting samples to support statements that a certain person wrote a certain document, I don't think there is much sense studying handwriting. There is simply no proof that there is a massive pool of unconscious energy in everyone, trying to get out, and expressing itself in things like handwriting. It's all sort of a Freudian idea, and Freud's entire theory was based on his own ideas--backed up with no proof--that he believed were self-validating ideas ("it is because it is"). Graphology also assumes that all people are alike. i.e. that aggression will look the same in all people, etc. Who says a dash at a certain angle means a certain thing?
Concepts like graphology gain a lot of attention and support because people have a natural tendency to identify with vague descriptions. Horoscopes work on the same principal. If I tell you "you're a thoughtful person, but if you don't apply yourself today, you could misstep" you'll probably agree that "yeah, I'm a thoughtful person!" (who wants to think they don't think enough?) and my prediction is so vague it could apply to anyone. When my prediction "comes true" my magical abilities seem credible. After enough repetition, you may become a believer in my great horoscopes.
We all have a certain desire, I think, to know ourselves better, and so when there are simple "tests" that give us an answer, it's tempting to believe they're true. Especially when they're a bit flattering, as they usually are. But if introspection were really that simple, I think we'd have to concede to being simple, shallow cognitive creatures. Are we? I'd like to think not.
Concepts like graphology gain a lot of attention and support because people have a natural tendency to identify with vague descriptions. Horoscopes work on the same principal. If I tell you "you're a thoughtful person, but if you don't apply yourself today, you could misstep" you'll probably agree that "yeah, I'm a thoughtful person!" (who wants to think they don't think enough?) and my prediction is so vague it could apply to anyone. When my prediction "comes true" my magical abilities seem credible. After enough repetition, you may become a believer in my great horoscopes.
We all have a certain desire, I think, to know ourselves better, and so when there are simple "tests" that give us an answer, it's tempting to believe they're true. Especially when they're a bit flattering, as they usually are. But if introspection were really that simple, I think we'd have to concede to being simple, shallow cognitive creatures. Are we? I'd like to think not.
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October 27, 2009 10:26 PM
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I do not believe there is anything to be told in a persons handwriting.
They say you can profile someone according to their writing.I don't believe it. You can read into anything if you want to try to tear it up into bite size pieces.
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They say you can profile someone according to their writing.I don't believe it. You can read into anything if you want to try to tear it up into bite size pieces.
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October 28, 2009 09:54 PM
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Graphology, as most people understand it, is just another form of pop psychology. Half the time, what one person tells you doesn't agree with what the next person will tell you; the other half is simplified and sugarcoated until they're pleasant-but-vague descriptions that can apply to anybody. (This is known as the Barnum effect, named for P. T. Barnum.)
But I do think you can glean some things based on some traits of handwriting. A person with immaculately neat handwriting that must take painstaking time to execute will probably be just a bit different than one who scrawls illegibly. If a person dots his or her i's with hearts, that says something very clear about that person. You know. Things like that. It isn't about the exact angle of the way you cross your t's.
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But I do think you can glean some things based on some traits of handwriting. A person with immaculately neat handwriting that must take painstaking time to execute will probably be just a bit different than one who scrawls illegibly. If a person dots his or her i's with hearts, that says something very clear about that person. You know. Things like that. It isn't about the exact angle of the way you cross your t's.
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