Einstein's Hands

December 1, 2008 8:33 PM

The lost art of palm reading., brought to you by The Illustrated Textbook of Psychodiagnostic Chirology.

"As seen here, we cannot point to anything in these prints which establishes genius. Nevertheless, what very markedly differentiates Einstein's hands from what we normally find in any general population is the length of the fingers relative to the size of the palm. The fingers, considered collectively, are short to an extreme.Short fingers speak of marked intuitive faculties and the tendency to visualize reality as an extention of subjectively defined probabilities. In its worst expression we would find the damaging effects of prejudices and most every other manner of cognitive dissonance. In its best expression we would find a vital inventiveness, critical insights and a very creative expansion of meaning of acquired information."

posted by puckish (14 comments total)

Meh. I expected more. Poor post.
posted by shockingbluamp at 9:14 PM on December 1, 2008

I don't know how reading eBooks on Palms is going to compete, now that there's new devices like the Kindle and Sony's eReader.
posted by blue_beetle at 9:52 PM on December 1, 2008

I didn't know that chiromancy included interpretation of dermatoglyphics as well as flexion creases. I'm curious what interpretation, if any, an inorganic simulation of dermal ridges might be.

In the real world the "lines" of the palm readers are properly called "flexion creases". I'm curious what reading this individual might get, seeing as how striking the depth and diversity of flexion creases is.

Google has never ranked my own website very high in a search for "dermatoglyphics", but it does come in at number one with the term "dermal ridges"

Palm reading is pure bullshit, of course, but other elements of fingerprint analysis, and the emerging study of primate dermatoglyphics is actually pretty interesting. Obviously I'm particularly interested when inorganic processes mimic dermal ridges.
posted by Tube at 10:59 PM on December 1, 2008

Do not fear me, gypsy. All I want from you is your tears.
posted by mullingitover at 1:13 AM on December 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

It always strikes me as odd that someone can call an ancient practices that has been around hundreds and hundreds of years and has been practiced all over the world before any of us were even born can be called bull shit.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 9:18 AM on December 2, 2008

The lost art of palm reading

Not lost enough.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 9:35 AM on December 2, 2008

Are there any studies that indicate the accuracy of Chirology?
posted by wharman at 10:05 AM on December 2, 2008

Whenever I see a sign somewhere for a palmreader's shop, I want to set up a store right next door and practice phrenology.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:24 AM on December 2, 2008

My best friend Jamison is a palm reader. He picked it up originally over 10 years ago as a cute way to hit on girls but over the years he became really good at it and has had nothing but success with it. When we first met he told me about my emotional stress due to my parents splitting up and even how old I was when it happened and he predicted that I would find myself in a long term relationship at the age that I did. Now like I said when we first met I thought this was just some cheap way to ask me out and I was a little skeptical, but over the years of watching him practice I see his talent only get stronger. He has had nothing but accurate predictions for every one he reads for he even predicted the year his mother passed away by reading her palm. He uses a very old practice based out of India and he learned by reading books and studying on his own hands. He dose this for fun not profit and uses it to connect with people in a way that most people may find odd or bullshit but it dose work. I have seen it first hand.

Honestly I believe it's a practice that is based on personal study and spirituality and not on scientific testing and lab research.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 10:50 AM on December 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

I always wondered what my single transverse palmar crease (or "simian crease") would mean to a palm reader... so I googled and found this:

They believe the simian line gives the ability to focus on one thing, absolutely, to the exclusion of all else. It is believed that these people generally achieve and accomplish far more than most, developing techniques and inventions that will last for generations. They also supposedly experience far more misfortune than most, usually due to the same intensity that drives them. The ambition for success in business endeavors will be strong, as will be the tendency to shut out all else in pursuit of these ambitions. People with simian lines are seen as being complex, forceful, goal-oriented, and egocentric.

Oh yeah, that's me, all right. o_O
posted by not_on_display at 12:48 PM on December 2, 2008

It always strikes me as odd that someone can call an ancient practices that has been around hundreds and hundreds of years and has been practiced all over the world before any of us were even born can be called bull shit.

I call bullshit on burning witches, too.
posted by Tube at 5:06 PM on December 2, 2008

Chiromancy --> chiromancy --> + ology --> chirology = science!!
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 5:24 PM on December 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

I call bullshit on burning witches, too.

Oooh! I've got one! Me me me me me! I call bullshit on the death penalty!

Wait...
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:41 PM on December 2, 2008

I was talking about spiritual practices.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 9:38 AM on December 3, 2008