On physiognomy

Looks like a gig AI could easily take away from him. Every country must have a variant, where I come from it's '10 years [of prison] for the mug alone'.

Sir Frances Galton (1822-1911), who is best known for his innovations in the science of fingerprinting, studied the potential of mug shots to reveal the ‘look’ of criminality.

Building on this idea, 19th century criminologists like Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) even identified some specific characteristics which might indicate criminal tendencies, such as:

  • 'sugar loaf' shaped skulls
  • pointy heads
  • heavy jaws
  • receding brows
  • scanty beards
“The Four Temperaments”, Johann Kaspar Lavater, ca. 1784. Lavater felt that a person’s character or temperament was reflected in their general facial features.
Lombroso claimed that criminality was inherited, and those who were 'born criminal' could be identified by these sorts of physical defects.




A growing body of evidence suggests that rapid, yet accurate, dispositional inferences can be made after minimal exposure to the physical appearance of others. In this study, we explore the accuracy of inferences regarding criminality made after brief exposure to static images of convicted criminals’ and non-criminals’ faces.




The findings revealed both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by just viewing the facial photographs. In both sexes, a narrower face with a thinner chin, and a larger, prolonged nose characterized the predicted stereotype of a higher IQ, while a rather oval and broader face with a massive chin and a smallish nose led to a prediction of low-intelligence.




An article from 2016, I remember seeing:

 
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