As you have probably deduced, I am a student. There's really no point in denying it, as aren't we all? You may be a student of your college, a student of your high school, a student of homeschool, a student of graduate school, or even a student of your elementary school. (If any of you are elementary schoolers getting into deduction, I congratulate you on your high reading level getting through this blog thus far.) But you can also be, you know, a student of literature, a student of the world, a student of philosophy, and, if you're reading this, a student of deduction and psychology and all that. Just some random food for thought there.
But, if you are a student of any sort of educational institution looking to evaluate your classmates, or perhaps a teacher looking to get to know your students better, here are some deductions for you.
And by the way...I decided to start an acronym: PAYOR=Proceed At Your Own Risk. Also CTYOC= Come To Your Own Conclusions, for things in which there is no particular formula for deducing.
What to Look For
- Observe people's school supplies. This is one of those, "look first, deduce later" things that, though it doesn't lend itself to instant deductions, could come in handy for any number of reasons.
- Do they have pens or pencils? Mechanical pencils or wood pencils? If the latter, do they have a pencil sharpener? Do they have colored pens, pencils, or markers? These suggest an artist. Do they write things in different colors? This suggests that they are organized and into color-coding, or are just colorful and creative. Do they have erasers? Do they look well-used? They probably use pencils a lot, they like to be able to correct things, possibly perfectionistic. Do they have kneaded erasers? (Another sign of an artist--can you tell I hang out with artists all the time?!)
- Look at the case. What does it have on it? There may be designs that say something about their interests, or doodles, or really anything.
- If everything is covered in pencil dust, they probably have a number of wood pencils and/or a pencil sharpener that is prone to spilling. (You may also be able to tell that I speak from personal experience in some areas here.)
- Look at notebooks. Do they have a composition book or a spiral book that they keep their notes in? They like having everything in one place. Do they have a binder instead, with some paper? They like being able to move things around, but still keep them mostly in one place. Also, take note of any class requirements. Where I go, there aren't a ton, and people generally organize as they see fit, but then again, I have some pretty easy-going instructors. Do they have a binder and a notebook? They may use the notebook for something else. Check for sketchbooks, graph paper books (outside of math, science, and design courses), and other sorts of things that suggest a non-school interest.
- Look for planners. Do they use the planner? They are probably organized. If you see inside the planner, do they have a busy schedule? Is there consistency? CTYOC, and PAYOR. (Acronym in description.) This depends on how well you know people.
- Do they carry their things in a bag from class to class? Depending on whether your educational institution has lockers, cubbies, etc., this may be normal, or not normal.
- Do they have any books to read in a class that doesn't require them? In some language and theatre classes, it's normal for people to be reading novels, plays, etc. as part of a project, but if they have something unrelated, they probably get bored easily.
- As a general rule, in a class setting, the people who raise their hands or otherwise catch the instructor's attention (It varies by institution, specific class, culture, etc.) are the more confident ones. They also may enjoy presenting in front of the class or talking a lot in general about stuff. In some cases, these are the most intelligent/skilled/hardworking students who are aware of their intelligence/skill/state-of-being-hardworking and like to show off, and in some other cases, they are the not-hardworking students who think they know everything.
- As a side note, I don't believe intelligence, or perhaps more specifically, potential for achievement is something definite that you're born with, and I don't believe that what you learn or accomplish in any particular educational institution determines your abilities or self-worth, or is even an important thing to know in the first place. However, students who enjoy learning generally work hard, if only to keep the teacher off their back so they have more time to write poetry or build a particle accelerator under the football field or whatever. But keep an open mind, and if somebody isn't working hard, CTYOC.
- Look at people's handwriting. I'm only beginning to get into this topic myself, so you'll need to find detailed info elsewhere, although a beginner's course in graphology will be in the works at some point for this blog.
- Use the info in all the other "Deduction" posts on this blog. Most of these apply to school settings.
- Look at instructor's desks. You can look for some of the same things mentioned earlier.
- If your instructor asks you for information about your interests, add "deduction" to the list. I can guarantee you that it will stand out from the rest of the class, unless the course is related to such a topic.
- Showing off your deduction skills when you're first meeting everybody is very, very fun, at least for you. Some people get annoyed by such practices, though, so PAYOR.
SM
