Epistemic status: Mostly speculation and anecdotes, feel free to skip to The List once you understand its reason for existence.

tldr: This is a curated list of observable details about a person's appearance that indicate something useful/surprising about them. Ideally, studying this list will be an efficient way to cultivate more insightful observational/abductive abilities, approaching the fictional example of Sherlock Holmes. Please contribute in the comments section after reading the Rules.

Background

Is it possible to develop observational abilities comparable to Sherlock Holmes?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective has many enviable skills, including mastery of disguise and some expertise at unarmed combat, as well as generally being a genius, but we will focus primarily on his more well known observational power. Though Holmes is often described as a master of logical "deduction," this power is better described as (possibly superhuman) abduction. That is, Holmes perceives tiny details that many [...]

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Outline:

(00:35) Background

(05:34) Rules

(06:50) The List

(06:52) Cauliflower Ear - Combat Sports

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First published:
December 2nd, 2023

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Yz33koDN5uhSEaB6c/sherlockian-abduction-master-list

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Sherlockian Abduction Master List” by Cole Wyeth

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Sherlockian Abduction Master List” by Cole Wyeth