Friday, December 11, 2009

Physiognomy-A Science?



When we were discussing in class about the notion that scientists once tried to scientifically map out specific characters in relation to the face structure of specific person, I was oddly surprised. In Chinese culture physiognomy is a not a science, it's a culture study. Similar to reading palms, we have specialists who read faces. Although a supersitition, Chinese people still hold some truth in reading physiognomy. For instance, Mao Zedong is believed by the Chinese people to bring to rule with an unearthly power because of the prominent black mole on his chin. Whether people came up with this theory before Chairman Mao wrote himself in the history books or it was his actions that enacted such a conclusion, present day Chinese people do belive a mole on the face is a good thing.

Since in Chinese media, actress Nancy Sit is known for bringing joy and happiness to her audience because her management sells not just her fun loving personality but the mole on her forhead, which equates her for happiness. This is however contradicting, as her marriage ended abruptly in her late twenties and instead of living the glamorous rich wife she was forced to play such a role in the many sitcoms she made after her divorce. It's interesting how much people believe in such supersititions but it was even more intriguing for me when it's viewed from the western side as a science. Now it calls to question, in regards to our high trust in science, it is really rational to put all our trust in it? Or are we like the Chinese people believing in science as if it was a supersition?



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