Can reading assholes be considered science?
from Edward@lemmy.4d2.org to science_memes@mander.xyz on 11 Jul 13:59
https://lemmy.4d2.org/post/1048107

#science_memes

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Lembot_0004@discuss.online on 11 Jul 14:07 next collapse

“Science” has a rather strict “scientific” definition. Predictability, repeatability, etc. I don’t remember details.

Dyskolos@lemmy.zip on 11 Jul 14:21 next collapse

Your bumhole tells me you’re a skeptical. So I probably can’t interest you in a great wrinkle- removing miracle-cream? A smoother hole begets a healthier life, a higher libido and more financial stability in life.

OpenStars@piefed.social on 11 Jul 14:31 next collapse

It depends on whether the asshole has a title of Professor.

Mobiuthuselah@mander.xyz on 11 Jul 14:35 next collapse

Not any more than palm reading is a science (it’s not.) It could be considered an art I suppose, but science needs to be things that can be tested and produce repeatable results.

iii@mander.xyz on 12 Jul 07:03 next collapse

If me and 5 friends read your a-hole, I bet all of us would come to the same conclusion.

Mobiuthuselah@mander.xyz on 12 Jul 07:57 collapse

Still wouldn’t make it scientific. Nothing was tested. It was only observations and imagination. You could all lay in the grass and agree that a cloud shape looks similar to something else. Doesn’t mean a thing.

agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works on 12 Jul 08:51 collapse

Not any more than palm reading is a science

Well… stick with me here, this is just a devil’s advocate hypothetical.

Your hands are your primary method of interacting with the world. The creases, callouses, and other incidental features are reflections of the ways you most frequently use them.

Obviously you can’t divine the future, but you can gather information about a person. I dare say you could devise experiments to detect correlations between certain features of the hands, and features of the person: their profession, hobbies, grooming habits, clumsiness, etc.

I think a sincere scientific study could identify several hand features with moderately predictive correlations.

Mobiuthuselah@mander.xyz on 12 Jul 14:14 collapse

You’re right in that you could learn about someone based on their hands. It’s the subjective nature of the predictions that make palm reading unscientific. There have been studies to show that certain health issues manifest in our skin. Palm reading isn’t focused solely on those issues though. It tries to predict all kinds of things (wealth, relationships, misfortune, etc.) How would you create a control group for a study like that?

agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works on 12 Jul 18:38 collapse

Well it’s not just health issues, there’s the arrangement and depth of the creases, callouses, tan lines and stains, cuts and scrapes. If you can map those broadly to character traits (rough and calloused hands imply hard work and industriousness, lots of little injuries imply absent-mindedness, etc), then you can use those character traits to predict the answers to some questions. An absent-minded person is more likely to meet with small misfortunes, for instance.

Combine that with whatever the subject’s questions are, and a bit of basic psychology.

Mobiuthuselah@mander.xyz on 12 Jul 18:46 collapse

I see what you’re saying, and I’m not saying it can’t be useful or even helpful to individuals at times, just that it’s not scientific. It extends outside of what can be tested reliably.

58008@lemmy.world on 11 Jul 15:00 next collapse

I can tell by the flavour that a new love interest will come into your life imminently.

angrystego@lemmy.world on 11 Jul 15:12 next collapse

It can be considered pseudoscience. The question is - do we want to consider it at all?

HakunaHafada@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 11 Jul 18:41 collapse

Some people would. You know, for science.

Hackworth@sh.itjust.works on 11 Jul 15:18 next collapse

From the chaote perspective, any dynamic system with chaotic properties can be used for divination. But a science? Nah.

TheThrillOfTime@lemmy.ml on 11 Jul 16:48 next collapse

I’m a reading asshole, am I a science?

AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works on 11 Jul 16:59 next collapse

<img alt="" src="https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/6c9d4323-abca-4999-b979-cee79b2bb4c0.jpeg">

alzymologist@sopuli.xyz on 11 Jul 17:38 next collapse

Mighty Shai-hulud!

JasonDJ@lemmy.zip on 11 Jul 20:24 next collapse

Can’t you just read X instead?

Gumus@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 11 Jul 20:37 next collapse

Isn’t that what Sylvester Stallone’s mom did for a living?

[deleted] on 12 Jul 03:31 next collapse

.

leftzero@lemmynsfw.com on 12 Jul 07:25 next collapse

Are haemorrhoids considered a bad omen…?

Zerush@lemmy.ml on 12 Jul 08:27 collapse

Taking advantage of the best daring lip sensitivity to investigate with anomancy the boss, getting ascending to the employee of the month.