The Straight Dope 10/24/2003

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 10/24/2003

Dear Cecil:

In your column about handwriting analysis you wrote,
"More than 200 objective scientific studies have
demonstrated that graphology is worthless as a
predictor of personality." After I whined a bit,
you conceded that you had misstated matters. It
wasn't that 200 studies had independently concluded
graphology was worthless; rather, one researcher,
Geoffrey Dean, made this judgment based on a
"meta-analysis" of 200 previous studies. Even Dean's
study is seriously flawed and doesn't support the
conclusions drawn.

Let me define what I believe is in contention. I
specifically do not claim that handwriting analysis
is useful for a purpose such as personnel selection;
that people who practice it are honest, scientific,
or consistent in their analyses; or that all or most
of the personality traits they claim to find reflected
in handwriting actually are. I propose simply that
elements of personality are reflected in handwriting.
That's all. And that's exactly what the column claims
is not true.--Bill H., via the Straight Dope Message
Board

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Cecil replies:

You and the gang went around on this for quite a while
on the message board, Bill. Unsurprisingly, no firm
conclusions were reached. (Such is the nature of message
boards.) But you seem like a good fellow--I'd like to
provide some closure, so that you, and everyone else who
piled on once the debate got going, can get on with your
lives. So I'll happily concede one point, which doesn't
have much to do with the point I was making back in
April: Even if you're totally unschooled in graphology,
you can use handwriting to predict, with greater accuracy
than a coin toss, certain inherent personal characteristics
(not personality traits). Splitting hairs, am I? Not at
all. I've just learned from long experience that you can
appear to prove all manner of astonishing conjectures if
you set the bar sufficiently low.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031024.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

As I write this, my pet cat is purring beside my desk,
and after extending an arm to scratch him under the
chin (increasing the purring), I'm inclined to ask:
Why cats are so cuddly? (It's not smartness--I know dumb
when I see it, and it's right besides me now). Why cats
rather than another animal such as rabbits, apes,
aardvarks, 'coons, 'possums, badgers or skunks? (OK, I 
can see why not skunks. But they can be cuddly and cute,
too.) What in the cat predisposed it to be the engaging
furry companion we know? I understand the ancient
Egyptians were the first to mass-tame them for
pest-control purposes, but still, why not the
abovementioned animals (or their ancient Egypt 
equivalents)? --Etaoin Shrdlu

SDSTAFF Doug replies:

I don't think you're going to ever get a precise answer
to a question like that, but you hint at the most
likely factor: the Egyptians weren't necessarily out
to produce something cuddly, they were out to produce
something useful. Though animals have been domesticated
for at least 12,000 years, breeding for pleasure or
cosmetic purposes--i.e., the "house pet" mentality--
is a relatively recent development.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpetcats.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 11/05/1982

Dear Cecil: 

My wife and I have been married for five years. She
has a mild case of herpes, contracted years before
we met and subject to intermittent outbreaks (usually
related to stress). But although we take no precautions
other than a little restraint occasionally, I have
apparently never caught the virus, or at least I have
never had an outbreak. Is it really possible that I'm
clean? Or could I have herpes and not know it? Or could
she not have herpes but something else causing similar
manifestations even though it was diagnosed as herpes
by two different doctors? --Name Withheld,
Cave Creek, Arizona 

Dear Cecil: 

Is it true that colds and flu and other germ-spread
illnesses are most contagious before you get the
symptoms rather than after? I have always written 
his off as a crackpot theory, but now that I have
a small child, I'd really like to know. If it's true,
then I don't need to worry about him being around
sick people, or infecting his little friends if he
himself is sick. Can you find out for sure?
--R.B., Monroe, Wisconsin 

Cecil replies:

I realize that discussing kiddie sniffles and herpes
simplex in the same breath is a bit incongruous, but
we're dealing with the demon Virus here, which makes
for strange bedfellows, to say nothing of making
bedfellows strange. Starting with the simplest
issues and working up:

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_281b.html
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