Deduction #2--Interests In Person

Today, I have some more easy deductions...this time about what people are interested in!  This may seem really easy to discern, but the difficulty of such a task is almost always inversely proportional to how close you are to the person or group of people.  More simply, the closer you are to them, the easier it is to figure out, but you may not be especially close to them for any number of reasons, so that is where this deduction comes in!

What to Look For

• The easiest thing, of course, is to listen to people as they are talking to you.  Being a good listener is key to being a good deductionist, because it is impossible to make deductions without getting some sort of information.  Also, many people believe that being a good listener is key to being a good friend.  Of course, that's different for different people, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
• If this person likes graphic t-shirts, these often reflect interests.  There are many t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry pieces, shoes, leggings, lanyards, belts, suspenders, and even tattoos that have designs related to shows, books, music, science, etc.  Some of these are more subtle, such as morse code bracelets or quote t-shirts, but if this is a person whom you have reason to talk to, you can always ask.  Many people love to talk about their apparel, especially if it is more subtle.
• If somebody you don't know very well, but still talk to, "geeks out" (for lack of a better term) over something; as in, goes on a bit of a friendly rant about it, listen closely.  Ask questions.  These discussions will generally not only reveal information about the thing they are so interested in, but also about what they like about it and why they like it.  This, in turn, can tell you a bit about their character, which is one good reason to figure out interests in the first place.
• If a person frequently carries school supplies, books, briefcases, backpacks, or other personal possessions, take a look if possible.  Notebooks sometimes have designs on the covers, some of which are hand-drawn, which suggests artistic tendencies, or perhaps a tendency to spend time with artists.  Backpacks sometimes have pins or decorations on them.  This is good if you are not close to the person or comfortable talking to them, because these are things that they are generally trying to show the world.
• If you have a chance to listen to peoples' conversations, you can do so, but only if it is something public, i.e. something they are discussing in a public place.  Don't follow people, record them, or anything like that, as that is a major breach of privacy and actually illegal in some capacities.

Other Related Advice
--  It's okay for some of your information to be seemingly obvious; it makes your job a lot easier and you can build on that information to deduce more complex things.
-- You shouldn't read peoples' personal files without their permission, but it's okay to look at the outside cover of notebooks, folders, etc.
-- Of course, the things that people want to show the world about themselves may all be part of an elaborate ruse or other sort of cunning stratagem, but that's for the posts about identifying deception.
-- It's a good idea to look up things you don't know.  If you see a strange stuffed keychain on somebody's backpack, you can and should look it up on the Internet, or ask somebody about it.

I will post more about deducing interests later, but this is already a lot of information as is and I do not want to confuse anybody!  Though deduction can be complex, it does not have to be impossible to figure out.

Signing off,
SM