BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Did anyone try "seriously" deducing in real life?

Bixxel · May 6, 2014 4:47 pm

Did any of you "actually" try deducing from simple facts? It's really fun when you get the hang of this.
I successfully did some.Not that great but above average(though it''ll improve over time...):
Identified a left handed person(my classmate):
By observing three things:
1)Position of his cell phone-It was on his right coat pocket.So he probably uses his left hand to draw his cell phone easily from the opposite side.
2)Fingernails:I bumped intentionally on his shoulders and shot a quick glance at his fingernails-the ones on the left hand was rougher in comparison to the ones on the right hand,meaning-he can trim his nails better with the left hand than that with the right hand.
3)His handwritten words tended to drift leftwards.
Deduced from my classmate's wrist watch:
His wristwatch was of older model,seemingly quite genuine,dirt accumulated near the edges of the back surface,plenty of light scratches on the glass.And his jaw hit the floor when I asked him about when his father gifted him that watch.
He's shortsighted???!!
He didn't wear glasses.I saw his handwriting on his class notes-they're larger than the average handwriting.He always sat on the front desk,or at least the one of the first three.Weird thing was he didn't wear glasses.I asked him about it.He gave a weird answer-he wants his eyes to adjust themselves slowly to reacquire his better eyesight...

Last edited by Bixxel (May 6, 2014 4:56 pm)

Richard Brook · May 6, 2014 7:10 pm

Wow great deducing!! Especially like how you did the fingernail thing!! And I be the was completely shocked about the watch!! I haven't yet tried it with a person, but after reading this I'm definitely going to try it!! I have done some deductions tough, but with objects:
While I was at my Grandparents, I had a go at deducing what they had been doing with certain objects:

Camera case:
I said that it was relatively old but had been kept in good condition, this was because it was slightly faded but there were no obvious signs of damage.
I said it had been kept carelessly in a bag, presumably because they thought that the camera would be safe when it was in the case, so there wasn't a great need for care, this was because there were small scratches all around it where keys, books and other things had left their mark.
I said it came with the camera that they bought, as it had the make of the camera inherently inside - it was a good make of camera, but not the sort of type where you would buy a case from.
Finally, I said that it was mainly used as their beach camera, because in the stitching on the inside I could see grains of sand.

A Hat/Cap :
I said it was used as a beach cap only, for three reasons : there were traces of sand in the seams again, the outside of the cap was far more faded than the inside (caused by lots of direct sunlight) and the metal buckle had rusted white (a reaction which happens with metal and salt), where do you get sand, sun and salt?? The seaside!!!
I said it was bought in adulthood but as memorabilia from a place visited as both an adult and child. Might seem a stab in the dark but the hat had writing on the front: Jamaica Inn. I knew that Jamaica Inn is in Devon, England (near where we live) and so I knew it wasn't a tourist buy. No one buys hats as memorabilia unless they are either tourists, or they have bee to the place many times. I knew she used to live in Devon so it wasn't a huge leap to say that she had visited there since a child. Though aged, the hat wasn't old enough for that so she had bought it on a returning trip as an adult, remembering past times. Sentiment, people do things like that.
I was right about everything!!! :D
My (wholockian) friend then had a go at deducing my phone!!! With very accurate results!!!

My Phone!!
He said it had been carried sideways in bags/pockets, which he could tell from the scratch marks around the edge of the screen where the paint had worn away.
He said that it was kept alongside other things such as keys money, which he got from the scratches on the back of the phone.
He then said that it was quite old but I had tried to keep it in good condition, he got this from the scratches on the screen, which were old, and the finger marks around them, from where I had tried in vein to get them off!!!
The only thing he was wrong about was that he said that I had a 'pattern' password (where you have to make the correct pattern out of the dots to get in) which he got from my finger marks again but in fact I had a 'slide to unlock' thing, which is close!!!

Can't wait to try some more myself!!!

Last edited by Richard Brook (May 6, 2014 7:11 pm)

Bixxel · May 8, 2014 12:22 pm

Interesting the way you deduced about their holiday in a sea beach from small things.I'll try more practical applications and report back here.
Oh,you can also deduce a who's a liar by observing his pupil dilation(contraction and expansion) at the time he's saying something and also at the speed at which he speaks in comparison to his normal speaking speed.

Harriet · May 8, 2014 12:24 pm

Well, if things were so easy we wouldn't need any trials

zeratul · May 8, 2014 3:42 pm

Posted this somewhere else recently:

Got some officiall letter. So obviously there was a secretary writing the letter.
I said to my husband, hey it was an elder woman who wrote this letter, she has for sure used a typewriter before. Well how did I see it? Although it was written in ragged adjustment, there were words divided over the lines. Nobody would bother to do that on a PC, because if you keep on writing it jumps to the next line. So it must have been somebody, who was used to check if the line ended and if it does, divide the word.
What do you think, am I right?

Whisky · May 8, 2014 4:04 pm

Since watching Sherlock, I enjoy being observant. It's great to discover things you never noticed before. But I don't think it makes me clever - I just slowly start realising how very blind we wander through everyday life. I like noticing things, though I rarely try to deduce anything.

Personally it would annoy me if people started staring at my watch, phone, shoes, whatever else, and I like to think my friends feel the same (they are not as much into Sherlock as I am) so I don't "practice" on them.

I think it's good fun though, sometimes I find myself contemplating people's habits, usually when I'm on the bus or train and very bored. But I find it's rather difficult to verify my ideas, so most of the time I don't even know if I'm right or wrong about sth.

zeratul, I know that typewriter behaviour, so I think you could be right. I once did a ten-finger-writing-course where we had to use typewriters, and afterwards I always tried to jump lines manually on my computer

zeratul · May 8, 2014 5:08 pm

Hehe yes I also wander around with a "Tunnelblick" usually. So sometimes I realize things like decoration on the 2nd floor outside a house which I never saw but walked pass it so many times...

The type writer thing just happened and afterwards I thought that it was a deduction.

Bixxel · May 8, 2014 5:10 pm

Harriet wrote:
Well, if things were so easy we wouldn't need any trials

Who said it's easy? It requires critical thinking.One that people hate doing the most.That's why everyone says its so hard.

besleybean · May 8, 2014 5:10 pm

I do, but nothing I could possibly tell anybody about!

Richard Brook · May 8, 2014 9:34 pm

Go on, besleybean!!! Try anything!!! We'd love to hear about it!!!

Harriet · May 8, 2014 9:59 pm

Bixxel wrote:
Harriet wrote:
Well, if things were so easy we wouldn't need any trials
Who said it's easy? It requires critical thinking.One that people hate doing the most.That's why everyone says its so hard.

You said that one can find out if people are lying by observing pupil dilation and the speed at which one speaks... I was referring to that and don't think this can be an exact method to find out the truth about a person. It's a hint that a person is uneasy (or whatever you wish to call it), but nothing more.

Bixxel · May 9, 2014 8:58 am

Harriet wrote:
Bixxel wrote:
Harriet wrote:
Well, if things were so easy we wouldn't need any trials
Who said it's easy? It requires critical thinking.One that people hate doing the most.That's why everyone says its so hard.
You said that one can find out if people are lying by observing pupil dilation and the speed at which one speaks... I was referring to that and don't think this can be an exact method to find out the truth about a person. It's a hint that a person is uneasy (or whatever you wish to call it), but nothing more.

That's true.But that's a method.I'm only saying.

Bixxel · May 9, 2014 9:01 am

Just asking,does anybody know the coagulation time of saliva after death? Pls do post.I need to know it.I couldn't find it over the internet.

Sherlock Holmes · May 9, 2014 10:01 am

Whisky wrote:
I think it's good fun though, sometimes I find myself contemplating people's habits, usually when I'm on the bus or train and very bored. But I find it's rather difficult to verify my ideas, so most of the time I don't even know if I'm right or wrong about sth.

This is exactly my problem. I do it quite a bit in public, with random strangers, but how am I ever supposed to know whether I'm right? I can hardly just go up to them and say "you're recently divorced, you work on a building site near Victoria train station and you ate a bacon sandwich with tomato sauce for your breakfast". I'd probably get punched.

Bixxel · May 9, 2014 10:02 am

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
I'd probably get punched.

And insulted.......

Last edited by Bixxel (May 9, 2014 10:23 am)

Whisky · May 9, 2014 10:53 am

Bixxel wrote:
Sherlock Holmes wrote:
I'd probably get punched.
And insulted.......

But you could get lucky and accidently choose a Sherlockian. Then you would probably get hugs and compliments ;)

Bixxel · May 9, 2014 12:29 pm

Whisky wrote:
Bixxel wrote:
Sherlock Holmes wrote:
I'd probably get punched.
And insulted.......
But you could get lucky and accidently choose a Sherlockian. Then you would probably get hugs and compliments ;)

You're just guessing.As Sherlock said,"One mustn't twist facts to suit theories instead of twisting theories to suit facts."
So don't twist facts.Just joking...

Bixxel · May 9, 2014 12:31 pm

Anyway,does Graphology actually work?
And coagulation time of saliva after death?What's it?
And study over 144 types of tobacco ashes,does it exist anywhere? It'd be interesting to have so.

Rache · November 17, 2016 8:17 pm

Yep, I sometimes try to do this. With very different results.

On most days I can't read anything (important) from people. And it's frustrating. But yesterday, I think I did quite a good job. And I want to share it with you. To hear what you think about my observations and to encourage you to try the same and share it here with us. I will definitely continue to do it now and then, because I really had some great fun yesterday.

I had to wait at the tram station for about 10 minutes until my tram would arrive. It was dark, cold, wet and windy and there was nothing else to do. Btw I think public transportation is a rather good place to do deductions.

Here are some people and what I think I found out about them.

- a teenage boy, either on his way to or returning from doing some sports. Probably with a sheltered and functioning family background. Not exceedingly rich but not poor either.

I made these observations: I saw a teenage boy (~14 years old I guess). He had a bag with him. A bag you would typically put your sports things in. In a side bag a refillable drinking bottle was visible. He wore his winter jacket open, although it was rather cold and windy. So he either had a short way to the tram station or he was still feeling hot from the inside from the sports he had done. Then again his face wasn't sweaty at all and his hair was in good style. He was talking to someone on his smartphone. I thought for a moment "Hm, maybe he is one of those wannabe cool ghetto kids (sorry for the stereotyping), doing workout and styling his hair with gel, wearing his open jacket in a very casual way and a pair of those giant white 'ghetto' trainers with shoelaces bound very loose." But after a second look to his face, I thought "No, he looks quite innocent and actually like a nice and well behaving guy" which I thought had to be rather true after I took a closer look at his winter coat. It was from the brand Jack Wolfskin. This is a rather expensive and quality brand and I thought it fitting that he got it maybe from his caring parents who think that quality is important. Or that he was listening to the advice his parents gave him that he should buy this jacket. However, the family can't be poor. But the family can't be extremely rich, either. Because then, the boy wouldn't use the tram, but a parent or friend would surely drive him with the car in this weather.I was lucky in this case because I then overheard part of his conversation on the phone and got some of my observations confirmed. He was saying something like. "Yeah, I'm coming from sports now." and then "Yeah, ok see you then, grandpa."
So I really was right with the sports thing. (Although it was rather obvious with his sports bag.^^) In hindsight maybe he looked so well styled and not sweaty because he already took a shower at the sports hall and not planning to do that at home, which is what I would normally do. And a ~14 yo teenage boy talking so sweet to his grandpa - very probable that he lives in an intact and fairly good situated family.

- a young man (30-35 or so), with a foreign background, working in a bureau job, very likely in the financial (bank, stock exchange) or insurance sector. Returning home late from his work. Hard-working, not married, maybe concentrating on his career. He has already been working some time in this sector, but he hasn't come very far with his career, he is not extremely well paid. He is always using public transportation to go to work.

I got this from these observations: He came with the same train like me from Frankfurt and was changing to the same tram like me and sitting opposite me. You know about Frankfurt (aka London in smaller) with lots of business people working there? He was clean shaven, had short hair, clean hands and fingernails. He wore no ring on his fingers. He only had a laptop bag with him, wore clean black leather shoes, fine dark trousers, under his woolen jacket you could just see a chemise and a tie around his neck, so business man very obvious. Why foreign? I could tell of course by his looks, from South-Eastern Europe or the Middle East I would say. And in the tram he was phoning someone, but I couldn't identify the language. But whom was he talking to? As he spoke, as I presume, in his mother tongue, I think it was either family or friend (or girlfriend?). He is hard-working because it was already around 8:30 p.m., which is not the usual time to return home in this working sector. So he is either always working long and returning home late or he is working on an important project at the moment and is doing extra hours. Whatever it is, he is hard-working. Maybe he was out for a drink with a collegue after work before taking the train, but somehow my intuition said, that he wasn't. Ok, so hard-working, but he isn't earning the ridiculous big amount of money that is possible in this business. Why? His shoes looked clean but clearly worn. The thin shoelaces on these business shoes were even more thinned out and the shoeleather had visible creases/wrinkles/folds (?? what is the right term to use with shoeleather here? :D), both from long and constant wear so he is using them for quite a while. He hasn't bought new ones and he was using the train, wich he did on a regular base, because he didn't buy a ticket at the ticket machine, which had to mean he already had a job ticket or something like that. He can't have tons of money. Of course there is heavy traffic around Frankfurt and sometimes you are better off using public transport, but still I think, if he earned good money or was close to the top, he would use a car.Ok, and now at the end a curious observation: The case for his smartphone was bright purple. No idea what this could mean. Wow, this post is alreaddy much longer than I expected it to be. I've made another two deductions there. I will share them with you in another post.

Last edited by Rache (November 17, 2016 8:27 pm)

nakahara · November 18, 2016 8:11 am

Wow, Rache, that´s impressive! Truely Sherlockian deductions!