| Theory | Discredited | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physiognomy | The belief that facial features and body structure correspond to psychological characteristics—termed physiognomy—is widely held in antiquity, advocated by Aristotle and Suetonius, and later adopted by Arab and Chinese writers. | Leonardo da Vinci dismisses physiognomy as having “no scientific foundation.” The idea is revived in 1775 by Johann Kaspar Lavater and persists into the twentieth century, when it is shown to have no biological basis. | A 2017 study announces AI software designed to determine sexual orientation based on facial features. Authors of the so-called gaydar study are criticized but argue the software uses facial features only as an “observable proxy,” a technique that will soon be used to identify political views, criminal behavior, and IQ scores. |
| Degeneration | Max Nordau’s 1892 Degeneration applies Cesare Lombroso’s theory of “degeneracy” to aesthetics, claiming “a severe mental epidemic…a sort of black death of degeneration” and calling on judges, teachers, and politicians to censor art produced by “enfeebled minds,” including homosexuals. | George Bernard Shaw refutes Nordau in The Sanity of Art. Sigmund Freud asks if “degeneracy is of any value or adds anything to our knowledge”; William James criticizes Nordau for attacking literary works “using medical arguments.” | In 2017 China bans online audio and video content promoting “abnormal behavior,” focusing on depictions of “luxurious lifestyles” and same-sex relationships. Censors ensure content meets “correct political and aesthetic standards.” Under the regulations, notes one activist, all rights to make “audiovisual art will be revoked.” |
| Men Are Smarter Than Women | The belief that men are smarter than women was widely assumed in antiquity. In Politics, written in the fourth century bc, Aristotle writes, “The male is by nature superior and the female inferior.” Charles Darwin argues men are evolutionarily more advanced than women; Carl Jung claims women were inherently irrational. | Anthropologist Madeleine Pelletier uses a 1903 paper to argue sex is irrelevant to differences in intelligence. In 1916 psychologist Lewis Terman completes a study of child IQ scores, concluding, “The intelligence of girls…does not differ materially from that of boys.” | In 2005, Larry Summers, then president of Harvard University, suggests “issues of intrinsic aptitude” explain why women don’t reach top positions in the sciences, adding, “I would like nothing better than to be proved wrong.” Following a public outcry and a faculty no-confidence vote, Summers resigns. |
| Bicameral Mind | Published in 1976, Julian Jaynes’ The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind argues that humans were not fully conscious, lacking an inner voice and incapable of introspection, until about 3,000 years ago. | Though celebrated by reviewers on publication, scientists consider the book’s thesis fanciful. “It is one of those books that is either complete rubbish or a work of consummate genius,” writes Richard Dawkins in 2006. “Probably the former, but I’m hedging my bets.” | Recent academic work on consciousness has brought Jaynes’ work back into discussion. In 2009 brain-imaging studies suggest auditory hallucinations begin with activity in the right side of the brain, followed by activation on the left, resembling Jaynes’ model for the bicameral mind. |
| Phrenology | In 1796 Franz-Joseph Gall argues that the shape of the skull reveals mental aptitude and character. Phrenology becomes wildly influential in the nineteenth century and is used to justify theories of racial inferiority and slavery. | Napoleon orders the French Academy of Sciences to investigate phrenology. The resulting study, carried out in 1822 by Jean Pierre Flourens, rejects Gall’s thesis as unscientific. Phrenology persists but is fully discredited in the twentieth century. | In 2016 chef Tom Colicchio opens Fowler & Wells, its name taken from a nineteenth-century phrenology publisher once located near the restaurant. Colicchio drops the name after a reviewer draws attention to founder Orson Fowler, who used phrenology to argue African Americans were best suited to menial work. |
