Metoposcopy

Diagram from Metoposcopia, Samuel Fuchs, 1615

Metoposcopy is a form of divination in which the diviner predicts personality, character, and destiny, based on the pattern of lines on the subject's forehead. It was in use in the Classical era, and was widespread in the Middle Ages, reaching its greatest popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries.[1][2]

History

Pliny mentions a metoposcopos, described by Appion the Grammarian, who ("a thing incredible to be spoken") could judge a person's age and how much longer they would live. According to Suetonius, another practitioner determined that Titus, and not Britannicus, would become Emperor. Juvenal was disdainful, and considered metoposcopy to be plebeian.[3]

Metoposcopy is prominently featured in the Zohar.[4] Isaac Luria (1534 - 1572), a Syrian rabbi considered to be the founder of contemporary Kabbalah, practised a form of metoposcopy in which he interpreted the appearance of Hebrew letters on the forehead.[5][1]

Metoposcopy was developed by the 16th century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano, considered to be one of the foremost mathematicians of the Renaissance. His seminal work Metoposcopia libris tredecim, et octingentis faciei humanae eiconibus complexa, illustrated with engravings of 800 foreheads, was written in 1558 and published posthumously in 1658.[2][3][6] Giovanni Antonio Magini was also interested in the subject. Many metoposcopic works were published in the 16th and 17th centuries.[1]

In 1968 the results of a metoposcopical study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 400 patients were metoscopically analysed. 87% of those who suffered from a chronic duodenal ulcer were found to have three or more vertical lines between the eyebrows, compared to 5% of the control group.[7]

Criticism

Jean Bodin denounced metoposcopy in his influential work De la démonomanie des sorciers (1580). The practise was banned by Pope Sixtus V in 1586.[2]

Metoposcopy is described as a form of divination, in which the expert obtains their information from other-worldly or supernatural sources. This alone makes it clear that the practice of Metoposcopy is not supported by science, but is pseudoscience. The regular combination of this practice with astrology and its comparisons to palm reading further establishes metoposcopy within the realm of pseudoscience. These techniques rely on methods that cannot be disproven and lack any scientific merit. With confirmation bias, a rare correct prediction is used as confirmation of their abilities. However, the numerous incorrect predictions are minimized through assertions that every prediction can’t be 100% accurate, or as an inability to tap into one’s gifts at that moment. This increases the believability of the expert and their predictions, since no-one is perfect. Also making it difficult, or impossible, to disconfirm or falsify these claims, as the only ‘evidence’ is confirmatory.

Portrait of Cardano on display at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews.

The idea that one can ascertain a person’s character and temperament as well as predict a person’s destiny simply by reading the lines on their forehead is incredible. Furthermore, the association of these wrinkles with astrological points is even more unbelievable. The lines and wrinkles on a person’s forehead are the result of a combination of genetics, diet, habits (i.e. sun exposure), past experiences and overall lifestyle (i.e. stress level). These factors change over a person’s lifetime as does an individual’s appearance. Taking all these aspects into account, an individual’s predicted personality and future would be in a state of constant change. Predictions made at one point in time would no longer be valid after any significant period of time had passed.

Metoposcopy’s lack of reliability, falsifiability and testable proof draws attention to the need for scientific value. In addition, as with other pseudoscientific practices, the lack of scientific methodology forces the individual to trust in the expert’s divine gifts, in lieu of actual evidence.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lawrence Fine (1 May 1995). Essential Papers on Kabbalah. NYU Press. pp. 317–. ISBN 978-0-8147-2623-5.
  2. 1 2 3 Armando Maggi (1 September 2001). Satan's Rhetoric: A Study of Renaissance Demonology. University of Chicago Press. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-0-226-50132-1.
  3. 1 2 Edward Smedley; Hugh James Rose; Henry John Rose (1845). Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, Or, Universal Dictionary of Knowledge: Comprising the Twofold Advantage of a Philosophical and an Alphabetical Arrangement, with Appropriate Engravings. B. Fellowes. pp. 126–.
  4. ↑ Matt, Daniel, "Zohar, Vol.4"
  5. ↑ Eisen, Yosef (2004). Miraculous journey : a complete history of the Jewish people from creation to the present (Rev. ed.). Southfield, Mich.: Targum/Feldheim. p. 213. ISBN 1568713231.
  6. ↑ Melissa Percival (1999). The Appearance of Character: Physiognomy and Facial Expression in Eighteenth-century France. MHRA. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-902653-07-5.
  7. ↑ R.F Mould (1 January 1996). Mould's Medical Anecdotes: Omnibus Edition. CRC Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-7503-0390-3.

External links

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