Member-only story
Get Rich Writing with Chin Trivia
A rambling essay on the joys of the frequency illusion
You know that feeling when you start noticing a thing and then it’s EVERYWHERE? That’s called the frequency illusion.
This week it’s cleft chins. Every movie we watch lately seems to have an actor with a darling dimple.
- Kirk Douglas
- John Travolta
- Humphrey Bogart
- Cary Grant
Yeah, we watch a lot of old movies. I tell myself that facial features go in and out of style in film, just like body types, and cleft chins are an old movie star thing. Then I see a picture of Jeff Bezos. And another of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. So much for the trend theory.
Is it synchronicity? Is the universe telling me something important about chin dimples?
I don’t think so. I am quite open to the idea of synchronicity, a Jungian concept that the subconscious might be making connections for a larger purpose, but I don’t think there is anything deeper to my cleft chin observations.
Trivial Trivia
In an effort to make some sense of the plethora of chins, I wandered down more research rabbit holes than usual. Would you care to join me in learning a chinful of trivia? (I promise I’ll get back to the frequency illusion in a bit.)
- According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 16,446 mentoplasty procedures took place in the U.S. during 2019. Mentoplasty includes all kinds of chin augmentation, including adding or removing chin dimples.
- Although there is a strong genetic influence, a single dominant allele does not determine cleftness — no matter what you learned in biology class. According to 23andme.com, researchers have identified 38 genetic markers related to cleft chins. Cleft chins are more common in men than in women.
- Distinct clefts form during fetal development when the two sides of the jawbone don’t completely fuse together. Other dimples have to do with the musculature or tissue under the skin.
<Yawn>
- Maybe the ancient study of physiognomy will be more interesting. Consider this, from…
