When I was about 10 I theorized people’s appearances developed over time. If they were thugs they looked like thugs, and if they were religious they looked religious.

But how much can we tell from appearances?

Mannerisms develop over time for sure. The way you hold your face in certain situations I think are for more powerful than the ‘blank slate’ you were born with.

So you want to look like a crazy person? Start doing crazy things, and eventually your appearance will adapt and portray you as such.

I’d appreciate your input in developing this idea.

The Chinese consider people who smile too much devious.

I believe this is true, but to more of an extent than you think.

I do not believe that you are born with a "blank slate". I look into the eyes of babies and I see wonder, curiosity, and even personality.

I also believe that you can judge a book by its cover. And by book I mean person and by judge I mean infer traits. I believe that the same genes that govern our motivations, instinct, and undeveloped personality as a child also cause us to look the way we do from day 1.

Experience affects our personality and therefore our appearance as well.

If someone were to look at me they'd NEVER guess I'm a homosexual communist.

The Chinese consider people who smile too much devious.
and chinese who smile too much are mongoloid.

pic plzzzzz

If someone were to look at me they'd NEVER guess I'm a homosexual communist.

Think less photograph and more video clip

When I was about 10 I theorized people’s appearances developed over time. If they were thugs they looked like thugs, and if they were religious they looked religious.

But how much can we tell from appearances?

Mannerisms develop over time for sure. The way you hold your face in certain situations I think are for more powerful than the ‘blank slate’ you were born with.

So you want to look like a crazy person? Start doing crazy things, and eventually your appearance will adapt and portray you as such.

I’d appreciate your input in developing this idea.


I think you have it backwards. The people who look representative of a group do so because they conform to the general perception of what that group should look like. A priest is unlikely to get a mohawk and a punk is unlikely to wear a cassock.

That said you cannot generalise that all people look representative of their groups.

When I was about 10 I theorized people’s appearances developed over time. If they were thugs they looked like thugs, and if they were religious they looked religious.

Interesting. But I think you're reading too much into it. Yes, I think SOME thugs look like thugs; SOME religious people looked religious. But I think that's about as far as it goes ...and it really proves or says nothing.

I think this idea is very similar to the old tale about people and their pets looking alike. It's true that SOME do look alike ....but that says virtually nothing about the gazillion of owners who do NOT look like their pets (or vice versa).

Baron Max

Vile serial killer or daytime soap star?
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/serial-killers/ted-bundy/bundy_corduroy.jpg

Homeless bum or supergenius?
http://www.grafologiamorettiana.it/apropositodi/albert-einstein.jpg

Hot soccer mom or depraved pedophillic predator?
http://www.hottforteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/lefave-chargesdropped.jpg

Think less photograph and more video clipI don't act gay or Marxist either.

I believe this is true, but to more of an extent than you think.

I do not believe that you are born with a "blank slate". I look into the eyes of babies and I see wonder, curiosity, and even personality.

I also believe that you can judge a book by its cover. And by book I mean person and by judge I mean infer traits. I believe that the same genes that govern our motivations, instinct, and undeveloped personality as a child also cause us to look the way we do from day 1.

Experience affects our personality and therefore our appearance as well.

I retract the blank state notion. I'm not sure to the extent genetics play a role versus environment on interpretational appearance. From foresight however I see the environment playing a bigger role.

Word choice, volume, tempo of words, all the verbal communication probably develops outside of genetics. Facial expressions, especially smiles are inherited from parents. So maybe a large part of our appearance is fostered early on.

Back in grade school I observed the way I laugh change all the time. I found myself picking up other people's ways of laughing and that sort of thing. It was quite weird. And surely laughs influence a lot of our outward appearance.

I think this is true to some extent. Another factor is - to paraphrase something Valich said when talking about dogs - people act like how they are treated, and my addition to that is people treat others based on how they look.

I don't act gay or Marxist either.

But I'm sure you portray subtleties that even you aren't aware of. Poker players feed off those actions.

But I'm sure you portray subtleties that even you aren't aware of. Poker players feed off those actions.I do swivel my head at passing Manolo Blahnik shoes, but that's it.

Somebody answer my goddamned picture quiz, will ya?

Somebody answer my goddamned picture quiz, will ya?The soccer mom & soapstar are just little red x's for me. Einstein looks like a homeless dude.

I retract the blank state notion. I'm not sure to the extent genetics play a role versus environment on interpretational appearance. From foresight however I see the environment playing a bigger role.

Word choice, volume, tempo of words, all the verbal communication probably develops outside of genetics. Facial expressions, especially smiles are inherited from parents. So maybe a large part of our appearance is fostered early on.

Back in grade school I observed the way I laugh change all the time. I found myself picking up other people's ways of laughing and that sort of thing. It was quite weird. And surely laughs influence a lot of our outward appearance.

I definately agree. I was about to include in my previous post that our environment and experience play a bigger role than genetics, but I found that I couldn't justify it. They are two different things interacting. Although situations and places in your life can change you drastically, all subjective experience is founded upon genetic makeup. It starts with that and experience takes off from there.

I have definately experienced that I pick up the traits of other people when I am often around them over a long period of time. We unavoidably immitate what we are constantly exposed to.

Vile serial killer or daytime soap star?
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/serial-killers/ted-bundy/bundy_corduroy.jpg


I was going to say soap star, but when I quoted you it showed the link and gave it away :p

Anyway, I don't think these pictures counter the point Search & Destroy was making. Things you are talking about are not things people look like. Not anymore than you can look like someone who gardens every june 21st, or something equally random.

When he said we look how we act I'm pretty sure he meant characteristic actions, not some particular highly random event.

You're right. I agree.

Vile serial killer or daytime soap star?
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/serial-killers/ted-bundy/bundy_corduroy.jpg

Of course the filename gave it away as I write my response, but I was thinking that he seems like the kind of person who hides a secret--who is serious but charismatic, and deeply motivated. People just don't fall into categories like "serial killer" and "soap star" (aside from the fact that those are their occupations). When you look at someone's face + mannerisms, you get a feeling of what kind of person they are--what kind of actions they might take.

Homeless bum or supergenius?
http://www.grafologiamorettiana.it/apropositodi/albert-einstein.jpg

Looks like an open-minded person with an optimistic personality and a motivation to work until done, but also try to have fun while doing it.

Hot soccer mom or depraved pedophillic predator?
http://www.hottforteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/lefave-chargesdropped.jpg
intelligent, but insecure. Its harder for me to pick out traits in women, especially pretty ones. Maybe I get distracted.

To further the point, I can totally tell by looking at some 20 year olds if they've spent the last 10 years or so in front of a computer screen... sometimes :p I'm sure others know what I mean.

In addition, when I first saw Tom DeLay and Condelezza Rice they reminded me of some orcs from "Lord of the Rings", and I suspect the actions that led to this was plotting some sort of revenge in dark caves... or a dark room at least... Sorry to say something that goes into politics, but it actually crossed my mind before ;)

Evidence: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/01/22/rice__wideweb__430x319.jpg

I would say that the reason (at least for me) I can predict (to a short extent) someone's personality just by looking at them for a short time is because by observing many different people, I associate their actions to how they look. When looking at someone, I associate aspects of how they look along with subtle nuances and mannerisms in how they act/talk to that of other people that I have observed.

It works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropometry

intelligent, but insecure. Its harder for me to pick out traits in women, especially pretty ones. Maybe I get distracted.

lol, I think you did, because I thought she looked dumb!

I definitely agree that you can tell a lot about someone by how they look and how they present themselves. You just have to know a lot of different types of people to be accurate. Check out this (http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=56944) thread by Satyr (http://sciforums.com/member.php?u=19041).

lol, I think you did, because I thought she looked dumb!
You're kidding, right?

You're kidding, right?

Nope... Her face looks vacuous/dead to me... don't let the make up deceive you ;)

http://www.hottforteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/lefave-chargesdropped.jpg

I think she looks even better without the makeup.

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7990/lefave1ne7.jpg

It isn't how you look as much as it is how people precieve you. Go into the African jungles and see if yoiu can tell anything about the tribes members by looking at their naked bodies.:eek:

Which suggests a cultural basis not a biological one...

It isn't how you look as much as it is how people precieve you. Go into the African jungles and see if yoiu can tell anything about the tribes members by looking at their naked bodies.:eek:

We are all human and as humans we all have instinctual reactions to things, on the basic level. I am very sure I could go into the "African jungles" and pick out their emotions or reactions to things. Just watch discovery channel or something.

Sure, it can be harder because of the culture differences, but people have very similar expressions to reactions for the same kind of feelings. The difference is in regards to what they are reacting to.

Some of you people are taking “appearance” to mean a static image.

Appearance is also movement, activity?
Existence is temporal.

Generally you can judge a person by their appearance, once in a blue moon you come across someone who contradicts their image, and you and everyone else are baffled like "wow, I did not expect that from that guy, that was wierd", this unanymous bafflement cements the reality that appearance is generally an accurate guage for behaviour.

Generally you can judge a person by their appearance,

In microseconds...no time for a Cartesian appraisal......is there a link to aesthetics?