Is there some reason to think that physiognomy really works?
Reverse causation is probably the main reason, e.g. tall people are more likely to be seen as leaders by others, so they are more likely to become leaders. Nevertheless, is there something beyond that?
Is there some reason to think that physiognomy really works?
It is the case that appearances encode lots of information, because lots of things are correlated. For example, height correlates with intelligence, probably because of generic health factors (like nutrition). Nearsightedness and intelligence are correlated, but whether this is due to different use of the eyes in childhood or engineering constraints with regards to the brain and the skull is not yet clear. The aspect ratio of the face correlates with uterine testosterone levels, which correlates with masculinity. Those are just the particularly famous ones; an expert could keep going for some time.
The question of whether or not people’s naive impressions correspond to actual correlations, though, is less clear. Overall, it looks like stereotypes are more likely to be right than not, and it’s more likely that the ground fact shifts the impression than the impression shifts the ground fact. (How is thinking that blockier faces are found on more masculine men going to adjust the response of bone growth to testosterone in utero?)
The 2014 LW survey results mentioned something about being consistent with a finger-length/feminism connection. Maybe that counts?
Some diseases impact both reasoning and appearance. Gender impacts both appearance and behavior. You clearly get some information from appearance, but it’s going to be noisy and less useful than what you’d get by just asking a few questions.
the information less useful than what you’d get by just asking a few questions.
It’s easy to lie when answering to questions about your personality on e.g. a dating site.
It’s harder, more expensive, and sometimes impossible to lie via signaling, such as via appearance.
So, even though information obtained by asking questions is likely to be much richer than information obtained from appearances, it is also less likely to be truthful.
Is there some reason to think that physiognomy really works? Reverse causation is probably the main reason, e.g. tall people are more likely to be seen as leaders by others, so they are more likely to become leaders. Nevertheless, is there something beyond that?
It is the case that appearances encode lots of information, because lots of things are correlated. For example, height correlates with intelligence, probably because of generic health factors (like nutrition). Nearsightedness and intelligence are correlated, but whether this is due to different use of the eyes in childhood or engineering constraints with regards to the brain and the skull is not yet clear. The aspect ratio of the face correlates with uterine testosterone levels, which correlates with masculinity. Those are just the particularly famous ones; an expert could keep going for some time.
The question of whether or not people’s naive impressions correspond to actual correlations, though, is less clear. Overall, it looks like stereotypes are more likely to be right than not, and it’s more likely that the ground fact shifts the impression than the impression shifts the ground fact. (How is thinking that blockier faces are found on more masculine men going to adjust the response of bone growth to testosterone in utero?)
The 2014 LW survey results mentioned something about being consistent with a finger-length/feminism connection. Maybe that counts?
Some diseases impact both reasoning and appearance. Gender impacts both appearance and behavior. You clearly get some information from appearance, but it’s going to be noisy and less useful than what you’d get by just asking a few questions.
..assuming the replies are truthful.
Why would anyone bother to send in false data about their finger-length ratios?
I meant that as a comment to this:
It’s easy to lie when answering to questions about your personality on e.g. a dating site. It’s harder, more expensive, and sometimes impossible to lie via signaling, such as via appearance. So, even though information obtained by asking questions is likely to be much richer than information obtained from appearances, it is also less likely to be truthful.
Oh, I see, haha. Yes, that makes more sense, and your point is well-taken.