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2.3: Photographic Origins of Mugshots and Facial Recognition - Assessment

  • Page ID
    316555
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    Assessment

    illustrated book page depicting photographed faces, some blurrier than others "Frontispiece of Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development" by Francis Galton is marked with CC0 1.0.

    • Step One: Ponder and Self-Examine
      • How would you describe the enduring appeal behind wanting to be able to look at the surface of a person to discern the reality of who they are?
    • Step Two: Develop a Mantra
      • In future moments where you notice you might be falling into the error of “judging a book by its cover” (or a person’s moral character by their outward appearance), what can you do to remind yourself to shift away from those assumptions derived from surface-level details?
      • Based on what you learned about the history of the mugshot and pseudosciences like phrenology and physiognomy, write or make an audio or video recording of a mantra you could apply to future situations that acknowledges the impulse to make that immediate and superficial judgment while reminding yourself of reasons why such judgments lack validity or are otherwise problematic.
        • You may stick to logical arguments or arguments that appeal to emotions, or your mantra may combine the two.

    This page titled 2.3: Photographic Origins of Mugshots and Facial Recognition - Assessment is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica McCormack and Jack Lindsay.