You can tell a lot about someone by ...

[C is for]

link

Before I saw Katya's examples I immediately thought of shoes. Not sure why. I don't necessarily think shoes are a good indication of who a person is.

Besides that, I thought of Sirius Black's quote about how you can tell a person by how they treat their inferiors. (Paraphrased.)

I also think you can tell a lot about a person by what they think is funny.

[Marduk]

I was thinking about this, and thinking about what I look at upon entering someone's home, and I think the media they have can tell quite a bit about them. Their books, their movies, and their video/computer games (if present) tell quite a bit about a person.

If the person is well read (or watched, or played. I don't know if those apply respectively to folks who have consumed a diverse array of movies/tv shows and games, but I'm going to pretend they do.) one won't necessarily be able to ascertain specifically what their viewpoints are, but one will be able to tell what is important to them.

I'm looking at my bookshelf at the moment, and a cursory glance could tell that history, philosophy, religion and economics are all important to me.

[NerdGirl]

I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they wear to bed.

[thebigcheese]

Before I saw Katya's examples I immediately thought of shoes. Not sure why. I don't necessarily think shoes are a good indication of who a person is.

Definitely shoes. Oh man. I am so judgmental about shoes.

Actually, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned clothes in general. I think personal taste in clothing styles often says quite a bit.

[Unit of Energy]

You can tell a lot about someone based on the variety of media they have. I had a roommate once who hated books and would only watch movies with happy girl gets boy roommate wanted endings. And she was quite vocal when I wanted to watch something that didn't end that way. I couldn't even watch Little Women if she was home.

I had another roommate who collected The Book of Mormon in different languages.

[Katya]

So, all you people who have answered this, can you give me specific examples of what various books (shoes, pajamas, ways of treating inferiors) say to you about someone?

[TheAnswerIs42]

I don't think the media I own says very much about me, mainly because my husband doesn't belive in owning books. After justifying every single book to him every single move, I mostly gave up. So the things I enjoy/read/appreciate are no where to be seen. Same with movies- we never watch the ones we own, just rent it once and move on.

I think clothing does say a lot about how people view themselves, but can be misleading. To me there are so many levels- dressed well because they care about themselves, or too well because they care too much about appearances, or too shabby because they are lazy, etc. But you can't make a judgement on one outfit because that may vary from day to day.

I have to admit that I make snap decisions on people based on if they write like they are texting or something. Mostly it just makes my skin crawl. I don't know if I should do that or not, but people go down many notches in my book when they don't take the time to proofread what they are writing - for example, half of the ads on craigslist.

[Katya]

I don't think the media I own says very much about me, mainly because my husband doesn't belive in owning books.

Why not?

[C is for]

Ha. I'm glad someone think shoes are important! When I decided they weren't important to me that was after trying to remember last time I checked someone's feet to see what they were wearing.

Sirius Black, when he said that thing about treating inferiors (or supposed inferiors), was noting that it illustrated Crouch as not a very nice person. Not that waitresses and waiters are inferior, but last time I was out to dinner on a date I watched to see if he thanked our server.

I think what people see as funny is important because, for one thing, it shows if we have similar senses of humor and thus can be friends. If someone understands plays on words, or can think of funny puns, that shows a certain level of intelligence. Innuendos, potty humor, and meanness aren't funny and can illustrate immaturity (okay, I said it). I think I am old-fashioned.

42's right, writing style can tell you a lot about a person, too. My sisters always use so many exclamation points because they are so ebullient in real life. People who mostly use "texting" language seem disrespectful. I don't know what it is. I'm going to start shouting "Get off my lawn" any minute.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Hmm, lots of reasons. He doesn't like clutter and keeping too much stuff in general. But books don't mean anything to him, because he doesn't like to read. It is odd, because he is smarter than me in every other respect, but he is a slow reader. I grew up plowing through everything I could find to read at record pace, and he grew up being embarrassed to read in front of people. He has never read a book he wasn't required to read by a class, to my knowledge. So when I like to keep books around because I might read them again someday, he just doesn't understand the concept. He's never been mean about me keeping the ones I insist on, he just looks at me like I am bonkers while he discards all his books from college.

In a relevant example, my mother and grandfather both read CONSTANTLY. At all times, they have a book they are going through during the down parts of their day. But they don't own books. They borrow from the library, read through, and return. They don't get attached to particular ones - reading is just what you do to pass the time. If you buy them books as gifts, they look at you strangely.

[Whistler]

about shoes. I agree somewhat.

If you meet someone who wears the same pair of casual shoes with all their casual clothes, then you know that they probably don't care that much about matching their shoes to their clothes. Maybe they don't like fashion or don't think about it or are just practical.

Someone who wears black converses, for example, might be a hipster or someone nostalgic for the late 80s. Other-colored converses usually indicate a higher interest in fashion.

European comfort shoes like joseph-siebel indicate a desire to have a unique or old-fashioned shoe design and a premium on shoe quality. A young person who wears expensive leather shoes either really values arch support (foot problems?) or has rich parents, or something.

I could go on, but I think in the end, there's a limit to how much you can tell about a person by his/her shoes. My fiance wears DC shoes that look like skater shoes, but he has no interest in skateboarding. Maybe they were just on sale or he liked how they fit. The language of shoe-information requires both the wearer and the viewer to have advanced knowledge of the social implications of fashion.

[Katya]

Sirius Black, when he said that thing about treating inferiors (or supposed inferiors), was noting that it illustrated Crouch as not a very nice person. Not that waitresses and waiters are inferior, but last time I was out to dinner on a date I watched to see if he thanked our server.

Yeah, that makes sense (and I completely agree). It's not that waiters are inferior—it's that you're temporarily in a position of power over them, so it's all about what you're going to do with that power.

[Katya]

In a relevant example, my mother and grandfather both read CONSTANTLY. At all times, they have a book they are going through during the down parts of their day. But they don't own books. They borrow from the library, read through, and return. They don't get attached to particular ones - reading is just what you do to pass the time. If you buy them books as gifts, they look at you strangely.

Interesting. I'm a big library user (no surprise there), but I like owning reference books so that I can have easy access to the information in them.

[NerdGirl]

I wear Joseph Seibel shoes a lot, and it's because I have really high arches, so that confirms part of what Whistler said. It also helps that there's a shoe store near where my parents live that has really good boxing day sales, so I've got about three pairs of Joseph Seibel's that have lasted me for about six years now and that I paid about $40 each for.

The reason I think pyjamas tell you a lot is that they are probably the item of clothing that people have the most control over. People might have to wear a uniform to work or dress according to a dress code. But when they're at home in their pyjamas you can wear whatever you want. So they can tell you what someone's favorite color might be, or what some of their interests are. They might have cat pyjamas or astronomy pyjamas or sports team pyjamas. How covered up people are in their pyjamas might also tell you how comfortable they are with showing their body, or whether they tend to be hot all the time or cold all the time.

[thebigcheese]

I once told someone that I could never date a man who wears brown leather shoes. Ha! I've always preferred the guys who wear athletic shoes and/or athletic clothing as their casualwear because I think it shows an active lifestyle and a sense of practicality. And I think that matches me pretty well. Thus, athletic shoes are HOT. If I saw a guy wearing brown leather shoes, I would usually assume that he is the "stable" type who sits at home reading books all day. In other words, boring. I don't mean to be offensive about that, but this is coming from a girl who mountain bikes and likes to explore the wilderness.

Oh, and bright athletic shoes are even hotter because it shows a bold sense of style. Also matching me. I own a pair of bright yellow shoes and a pair of bright green shoes.

</shallowness>

[FauxRaiden]

I have to say shoes. I've been paying attention to this lately and you can pick out A LOT about a person's personality by looking at their shoes (on an average day). Just pay attention to what your friends and families wear and compare them with their personalities. You'll find that you can tell a lot about how the people are by their shoes.

[FauxRaiden]

I once told someone that I could never date a man who wears brown leather shoes. Ha! I've always preferred the guys who wear athletic shoes and/or athletic clothing as their casualwear because I think it shows an active lifestyle and a sense of practicality. And I think that matches me pretty well. Thus, athletic shoes are HOT. If I saw a guy wearing brown leather shoes, I would usually assume that he is the "stable" type who sits at home reading books all day. In other words, boring. I don't mean to be offensive about that, but this is coming from a girl who mountain bikes and likes to explore the wilderness.

Oh, and bright athletic shoes are even hotter because it shows a bold sense of style. Also matching me. I own a pair of bright yellow shoes and a pair of bright green shoes.

</shallowness>

I have to disagree. It depends on the quality of the shoe as to whether or not they're actually active. I find that people that wear cheaper athletic shoes do so out of laziness more than anything. Those that bear expensive athletic shoes like Nike and the like tend to be more sports active. Brown leather doesn't necessarily mean they don't get out, it just means they don't do sports. They may be mountainous people, but it depends on the shoe.

[thebigcheese]

I have to disagree. It depends on the quality of the shoe as to whether or not they're actually active. I find that people that wear cheaper athletic shoes do so out of laziness more than anything. Those that bear expensive athletic shoes like Nike and the like tend to be more sports active. Brown leather doesn't necessarily mean they don't get out, it just means they don't do sports. They may be mountainous people, but it depends on the shoe.

You know, I actually agree with you on that. I was just trying to point out a few (very) general categories of casual shoes, based on what I think is cool.

Athletic shoes = athletic people
Non-athletic shoes = non-athletic people

And since I would never think of buying anything other than Nike/Adidas/etc, I didn't even think about the fact that lower-end shoes exist. And I now feel that I'm beginning to expose my silly prejudices a little bit more than I'm comfortable with.

[Unit of Energy]

What a person studies says a lot about them. Not is a stereotypical way, but in what they are interested in or what their long term priorities and goals are.

[vorpal blade]

I've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a person if you can find out what they do when no one is looking and when they don't have to do anything.

You might be able to tell something about me by the clothes I wear, but it isn't going to be exactly what you first think. For the last thirty years or so I have not bought any of my own clothes. Everything thing I wear is what my wife picked out for me to wear. Wait, I guess I did buy myself a belt about five years ago, and a hat (with my wife's approval) about ten years ago. But that is all. My wife orders my shoes for me online. Partly it is because I really don't like to shop. So, looking at my clothes, and knowing my wife bought them, and knowing I choose my wife, might tell you something. Looking at my brown leather shoes, which I don't polish very often will tell you something. You won't see my athletic shoes because I don't wear them to work or church or leisure activities.