The Dark Story of Phrenology

Phrenology was a pseudoscience that spanned from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. While it's remembered more as a cultural phenomenon like astrology or horoscopes, it was used to justify terrible events in world history, like the Trail of Tears in the US. In this video, Patrick Kelly will walk you through the rise and fall of phrenology.

☠️NONE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE USED AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR OPINION. IT IS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT☠️

🔗 L I N K S 🔗

📜 S O U R C E S 📜
Gall and the Phrenological Movement (1947)

Gall on the Cerebellum

Phrenology by Courtney E Thompson

The Dutch Fiddler: Phrenology and Criminology (2004)

Crania Americana (1839) by Samuel Morton

Design Boom phrenology compilation

A line-by-line, fact checked version of the script can be found here. You do not have to be a Patron to view:

💻 C O N T A C T 💻
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#historyofmedicine #medicalhistory

0:00 Introduction
0:39 Phrenology Becomes a Thing
6:06 Phrenology Spreads
10:18 Phrenology in the US
13:02 The Dark Side of Phrenology
17:48 The End of Phrenology

[pliktley]

"A famous french scientist and racist" with no change in intonation, just said as one full statement, is gold

[FriedEgg]

I love how unflattering some of the artwork is. Like the artist had no trouble portraying how grotesque they found it.

[TadashiKitsune]

"...the doctrine of the skull."
Metal AF.

[PatKellyTeaches]

Thanks again to the Mutter Museum for helping me out with footage from the Hyrtl Skull Collection. Go check out their YouTube Channel while you're at it.

[SendPeaches]

Gosh your channel is criminally underrated. Hopefully by commenting the algorithm will start putting your fantastic work out for more people! 👏

[herodontus]

imagine u got a pimple on ur scalp and suddenly you're considered wise af

[phinhnanthasone]

Deeming someone else inferior doesn't justify harm, hurt or even death

[TheVigilo]

The pacing of these videos is always so perfect, concise but still full of info to keep me interested. Thanks for another banger

[sidebongy]

i truly could not believe that you didnt have over 1MIL subscribers !?!? Your videos are so damn well made, clear, concise, and entertaining !!! Wishing you all the success in the world!

[harriswong]

Really enjoyed the clear flow. You deserve way more credit for your work!

[mretaoin]

I looked through a British phrenology book. It had the sort of obscure language common to pseudoscience. My favorite part was the declaration that the perfect skull was that of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. It had ALL the virtues. It said that the worst known skull was that of German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, which showed all kinds of vices. lol.

[mariekatherine]

Americans still love this kind of stuff! Who doesn’t know their astrological sign, temperament type, or Myers-Briggs initials? Aquarius, melancholic, INTJ.

[phoenixfritzinger]

Anyone else remember when there was that fad in the 2010’s about just having a random ceramic phrenology bust as like a “witchy” decorative doodad?
That was really weird

[m.gaiolas]

What a great video! You're exactly what I've been looking for in the terms of educational content in the past few years. Good job!

[filipeborela]

I think your content is hugely underrated. When I look at it and compare it to your numbers it simply does not match up. Im a doctor and only came across your channel 1 week ago. Ever since I've seen your subscribers grow by 1 thousand per day, approximately. Now I think things are going to start improving for you. 2 years of absolutely amazing content, everytime, and less than 20 thousand subscribers? I was aghast. Wish you the best. Don't let it get the best of you. You are definitely bound to succeed. And I am here to watch and help you with it. Congratulations, professor.

[zisaletter]

that little end jingle is the most cheerful music ive ever heard overlay the word 'eugenics' spoken
anyway good vid! this is basically the old fashioned version of buzzfeed quizzes that tell you when youre going to get married and to whom

[capt.bart.roberts]

We had a family saying, if someone wasn't quite all there, "They need their bumps felt!"

[ettinakitten]

4:22 One of my undergrad psych profs pointed out that of these principles of phrenology, literally only the very last one - that outer skull shape reflects brain shape - has actually been found to be incorrect. Each of the other principles is actually mostly accurate. But that one inaccuracy led them totally astray.

[aste]

I would've loved to get to sit and draw at Mütter Museum's wall of skulls for hours. It was stunning in how much shape variety there is from person to person. It's a bit embarrassing and dumb to admit, but my friends and I realized we were so used to stock skull shapes and hadn't really imagined there was so much variety in proportions and shapes.

[robintauber]

Reading “Madame Bovary” …. I recall that her shopping habits bankrupted her husband who was a doctor. When the estate was being repossessed, they let the doctor keep his phrenology diagram because he’d need it in his work. Now I wonder if the use as a medical diagnostic tool was fading in popularity by the time the novel was written…. Because of the social commentary hinted at in the story.