“How much do external characteristics tell about a man? They tell, with amazing accuracy, all the basic, fundamental principal traits of his nature. The size, shape and structure of a man’s body tell more important facts about his real self—what he thinks and what he does—than the average mother ever knows about her own child. […] If this sounds impossible, if the seeming incongruity, multiplicity and heterogeneity of human qualities have baffled you, remember that this is exactly how the print in all books and newspapers baffled you before you learned to read.”
This very cool book outlines the 5 basic types of people based on their dominant biological systems. These are:
1) nutritive system (fat people) – “the enjoyer” – the chief distinguishing marks of the Alimentive in the order of their importance are ROUNDED OUTLINES, IMMATURE FEATURES and DIMPLED HANDS.
2) circulatory system (florid people) – “the thriller” – the chief distinguishing marks of the Thoracic in the order of their importance, are FLUSHED COMPLEXION, HIGH CHEST and LONG WAIST.
3) muscular system (muscular people) – “the worker” – “the chief distinguishing marks of the Muscular, in the order of their importance, are LARGE, FIRM MUSCLES, A SQUARE JAW and SQUARE HANDS.
4) skeletal system (boney people) – “the stayer” – the distinguishing marks of the Osseous, in the order of their importance, are PROPORTIONATELY LARGE BONES FOR THE BODY, PROMINENT JOINTS and A LONG FACE
5) nervous system (cerebral people) – “the thinker” – the chief distinguishing
marks of the Cerebral, in the order of their importance, are the HIGH FOREHEAD and a PROPORTIONATELY LARGE HEAD FOR THE BODY.
Every person has each of these systems and so displays qualities associated with each, but this book professes that each person also has a dominant system that most greatly influences their personality and body type. It makes sense that genetic predispositions would effect our underlying personality. By recognizing these archetypes, one will be able to “read” any stranger at a glance and determine the basic characteristics of their personality.
HERE is a link for the full text.
I was considering the cerebral type and how it’s connected closely with the nervous system. Being interested in the martial arts I have always considered the wisdom of great warriors such as Miyamoto Musashi and Sun Tzu, but wondered why advanced levels of martial skill were usually accompanied by great mental insights. I believe it has a lot to do with the discipline required to master any art, but in light of the theory proposed by this book it seems that it might also have something to do with the nervous systems connection with the cerebral personality type. The nervous system is important for reflexes, which (albeit trained) are what basically govern hand to hand combat. It makes sense then that a great warrior, who would necessarily have great reflexes, would also then be of the “cerebral” type and thus be predisposed to be, well, pretty smart.
The Mysterious Past 
Interesting to see how far back interpersonal evaluation has been a subject, seeing as how such psychology and ‘profiling’ are so cool in modern day entertainment. I don’t know how correct some of the associations are, but certain physical qualities do lend themselves to revealing much about our personalities. And as to the insight / cerebral aspect of martial artists: of course! Look at most REAL fighters and they may not all be ‘book’ smart, but awareness and mental acuity are probably the most important aspects of being successful and dominant.