The Shape of Your Head and the Shape of Your Mind
How the archaic study of brain shape and head reading — the origin of terms like “highbrow” and “lowbrow,” “well rounded,” and “shrink” — shaped the modern obsession with the mind. One reason phrenology attracted so many followers was that it seemed to provide the toolbox for the American dream.
![](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/3ZyxOFqx_0enguP7yhgcYgkE4FU=/56x0:523x467/80x80/media/img/mt/2013/12/phrenoscalp/original.jpg)