[willbee]

I remember seeing a bit of Sherlock Holmes on TV, where he started making notes that because this woman was wearing a certain shade of nail varnish, it meant she was recently single, getting a bit past it and desperately seeking someone to date. Or something akin to that. It was a bit harsh if you ask me, and quite a fanciful deduction if you ask me.

I think you can tell some stuff from the way someone looks though. Maybe not their body, but deffo from how they present themselves. Wearing little suggests confidence in their body, covering up suggests modesty. Black / dark casual clothes suggests to me that they might be a bit of a loner or unhappy with life. Bright clothes suggest confidence and happiness in contrast. Ofc these are my stereotypes in my head, and may be completely wrong. But I think we're all quick to judge by nature, however, after initial first impressions, when we get to know someone, stereotyping all but falls away...

[trudy13]

Uhm, a lot of the things that you are suggesting are literally impossible to tell just by looking at someone. To find out where their dad studied you'd have to be a mega stalker :/
But I believe that from observing a person you can tell a lot about their personality through their gestures etc. But other things such as their life stories would have to be spoken to be completely understood.

[DeadGirlsDance]

I think you can tell a lot more about them if you look at their attitude, clothes or the way they speak rather than their skin colour.

[boba]

(Original post by LawKiddo)
By 'ethnicity', do you mean race?

Can you tell whether a black person was born in Britain, Angola, the Turks and Caicos Islands or the USA by looking at them?

Can you tell whether a white person was born in Britain, Jamaica, Turkey, Nigeria or Brazil by looking at them?

Can you tell a person's cultural values or character by looking at them?

sure I mean race. and I never for one second suggested that you can tell peoples values by looking at them.

[Andy Ftw]

(Original post by LawKiddo)
How can you be 100% sure of a person's subculture, social status, job etc just by looking at them? What if a person is wearing a tracksuit because they were coming back from a morning run? I knew a criminal law judge who was harassed by the police because he was unshaven and wearing a tracksuit, sweating after a jog. The police attempted to harass him and he had to bite his lip.

Well I guess that's why he said "You can tell a lot in some cases". Obviously there is no way you can be 100% sure, infact you easily be 100% wrong, but I would agree that there are definitely cases where you can tell quite a lot just from looking/watching them.

[Pensivedore]

I don't think you can tell much by looking at people in public. When I'm in waiting rooms at the doctors, or waiting for the bus or on a train, I often find myself watching people and looking at their body language and facial expressions, trying to figure out what kind of person they might be. I've probably reached the wrong conclusion many times.

[I had a cat once]

(Original post by LawKiddo)
But can you tell a person's favourite Gerrard Manley Hopkins poem by looking at them?

I once saw someone with 'I wake and feel the fell of dark not day' tatood on their back, i'm guessing that was their favourite, and rightfully so. I'm pretty sure most people don't even have a favourite.

[AdvanceAndVanquish]

There are many educated guesses you can make about a person based on their appearance, although
they will never be 100% guaranteed.

[somethingbeautiful]

How they're feeling - it's quite difficult to mask body language.

[Snagprophet]

The way people walk can show a lot about their attitude. Do they wear a hood on a sunny/non-rainy day? Do they have their mouth open all the time?

I used to think people who looked down while walking tended to be more lower class but plenty of lower class people hold their heads high. I think that just gives people more confidence.

There's a whole psychology course which teaches how to spot clues to people's lives. And I mean a lot more subtler than chavy behaviour, clothing and mannerisms. Things like slightly hunched shoulders, which even people who do it don't notice, tells a story.

[Kiss]

(Original post by LawKiddo)
Racism, stereotypes and microaggressions will forever make me sad.

What can you tell about a person by looking at them?

Why are people racist, what does it serve and what does a person gain from this?

I certainly dont feel any solidarity with somebody because of shared skin colour. I am most comfortable with people who share my interests rather than people who share my skin colour.

Wow, you are so perfect. Can we all learn from how perfect you are?

[LawKiddo]

I don't accept other people's outline of Britishness. I have my own and I'm in the center of it.

[Insert_username]

Dunno if anyone's watched the borne ultimatum but in that Jason Bourne could tell what sort of skills/weaponry a person can use I know it's just a film but I'm sure that there are lots of people out there who have similar skills which is rather cool


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