New Holmes-type deductions

[Carol the Dabbler]

Despite claiming that he retains only useful information in his memory, Holmes (in various incarnations) clearly has quite a collection of oddities stored away, apparently on the off-chance that they may someday prove useful.

I recently came across a YouTube video [link] and a Wikipedia article (here) about some unique aspects of the engineering profession in Canada, including a simple but distinctive ring intended to be worn on the little finger of the engineer's "working" (i.e., dominant) hand.  So I can imagine a latter-day Holmes astonishing his Watson by saying to a stranger he's barely met, "You are a left-handed Canadian engineer, I perceive."

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Would love to hear about any such tidbits the rest of you may have encountered!

 

[T.o.b.y]

Oh wow Carol, great thread idea! 

I sometimes try to imagine what Sherlock would deduce about me on first sight and why. 

Hmmm, can I think of anything as clever as the Canadian engineer? I doubt it... I'll have to think a little. 

As for what information is useful and what isn't, I suspect Sherlock just labels anything he personally finds interesting "useful" and the rest "irrelevant". He seems to be a big rationalizer. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

11 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:

can I think of anything as clever as the Canadian engineer? I doubt it... I'll have to think a little.

The secret isn't necessarily to think of something clever, but rather to recognize it when you see it.  Like I said, I just stumbled across that engineer video.