Handwriting Analysis and Fortune Telling
Yesterday I was at St. Vincent College’s “Earth Day,” where a man named Dennis collected handwriting samples and offered a personality reading.
I let him go through his schtick — which included all sorts of affirming things like I am a resource person for too many people, I’ve either had a financial opportunity recently or I will soon, and I’ve recently been having some kind of medical problem in my left knee, or possibly my right shoulder, or somewhere in my back; perhaps it’s an old injury or it’s a sign of something that will come soon. He then did the same for my wife, and much of what he told her was the same — probably because the harried looks on our faces as we chased our kids around was pretty much a neon sign that blinked out “I feel overstressed and tired”.
When he was done, I told him, “About 30% of what you told me may possibly apply to me, another 50% would apply to anyone you see walking down the street, and the medical stuff about knees and shoulders and backs is completely wrong.” Then, feeling like a bit of a jerk (after all, this guy was volunteering his time at St. Vincent’s and he wasn’t charging anything), I added something like, “… but it was fun to hear what you had to say, thanks for volunteering your time.”
There was a line of about four people waiting for their turn, so I left.
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Thanks for your opinion, Jim. If the only form of journalism were the hard news story, and if my personal blog were a newspaper, then I'd agree with more of what you said.
However, journalism also includes reviews, editorials, and humor and advice columns, in which the author's personal tastes, opinions, and even biases are part of what informs the piece.
Quick insertion: And all that is perfectly ethical, as long as it's not presented in the guise of objective reporting. "At Joe's Diner, the meat loaf was dry and unappealing," is personal opinion that's perfectly acceptable within the context of a review because it focuses on the author's specific experience, while "The chef at Joe's Diner can't cook" is libel, because it generalizes beyond the author's own experiences.
I'm not sure that my use of "schtick," my numerical assessment of the performance, and my statement that I felt like a jerk are enough to support your claim that I demonized the handwriting analyst in a diatribe. Further, I wouldn't combine the 50% that would be true for anyone with the 30% that "may possibly apply to me" in order to get an 80% success rate (because "may possibly apply" doesn't mean I thought he was accurate).
Nevertheless, you've presented another way to look at the situation, which I find interesting.
Just came across this when looking for PA handwriting analysts.
Interestingly enough, I was at Earth Day as well and the guy was accurate. People that I saw didn't bring their own handwriting samples. Nobody knew in advance he'd be there
Your other blogs talk about ethics in journalism and you use charged words like schtick in this one to demonize the guy early in your diatribe.
Not a good journalistic practice, shows extreme bias. Smacks of yellow dog journalism.
You teach english and journalism at Seton Hill University? For shame.
All in all though your statements that he was 30% accurate specifically to you and 50% of what he said could apply to anyone ( by virtue of you qualifying as "anyone" you are also in that larger group of anyone ) means you admit that he was in total 80% accurate. Do the math.
You mentioned that you felt like a jerk. Seems in trashing him in this blog you continue on like that.
how do you tell someones fortune (like slant upward meens..... pleez help me
Yes, Karissa, that makes sense.
well, from what I've read concerning true handwriting analysis, you've got to have a spontaneous sample--not something that you know is going to be ripped apart for what it says about you--in order to get a clear read. I love studying the writing of my friends just for the sake of seeing what there is to see. I'm not looking for serial killers, I'm indulging in a hobby ;^)
I do think that it's probably possible to tell things about people based on their handwriting... do they write carefully and cleanly, do they perfectly follow the cursive forms they were taught in 3rd grade, or do they mix and match cursive and print (as I do, for the sake of efficiency). Examining the handwriting in a ransom note also includes examining the words chosen by the author, the paper chosen by the author, and so forth -- but this guy handed me a stack of paper and told me what to write.
Well, I've always found handwriting interesting, and handwriting analysis, although not proven as a science, has been known to carry merit on several occasions when similarities are found between two people, who may also have the similar characteristics in their writing. My local newspaper publishes a weekly "handwriting doctor" article in the lifestyle section--that's how I've come to see the power in it; despite that, there are shortcomings in anything that isn't proven 100%.
I wish I would've known about that at SVC. I might have liked to see what he'd say about me, even if it isn't true :^)
...and then he whispered: "Thinner." ;-) Sounds like a fun day, if not an earthy one.