Here Are 15 Useful Skills Your 13-Year-Old Might Need in the Future

Just a heads up, none of these people are experts. Nor are they psychics who can see the future. But if you’re looking for inspiration, or maybe some ways to think outside the box when it comes to preparing your young teenagers for what awaits them in this big, bad, world, these 15 people have some poignant thoughts.

#15. Good study habits.

“Am in college rn.

Please learn good study habits. Holy god. Just do it.

You should also really try and keep all your grades as high as you can. I’m not kidding, a few points here and a few points there cost me 4K in scholarship. It’ll happen to you, too.

Also, don’t get too messed up about girls in high school. It’s not worth ruining a year or two over. Promise.”

#14. Practice.

“Guitar and/or piano. Seriously. Your mom wants you to practice, fucking practice. The ability to casually produce music in social settings will set you apart wherever you go. You don’t even need to be good – just able to make sounds that go in the right order.

And if you don’t learn it now, you never will.”

#13. Nobody is obligated.

“Less “skill” and more “life lesson”

NOBODY is obligated to like you.”

#12. When things go wrong.

“Learn to handle when things go wrong, because they will, and often.”

#11. Make it up.

“No joke, learn to bullshit. It’s more important later in life than you think.

Learn how to talk to people in a way that makes them feel comfortable and have confidence in you. I learned by having a retail job, it teaches you how to connect to people (also some humility). This is useful from the boardroom to the bedroom.

And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, writing papers (essays, reports, etc.) is like 90% bullshit. In college, grab some sources and you can sum up your point in two paragraphs. Bullshitting will allow you to turn that into 2,000 word essay.

Incompetent people that can bullshit become middle management. Competent people that can bullshit become presidents.”

#10. Never forget this.

“Ok, so you’ve got $100. If you let it sit in a savings account for a year at 5% interest, then after one year, it’ll be worth $105.

But here’s where it gets awesome. If you then let that $105 sit there for ANOTHER year, then you get 5% interest on $105 instead of the original $100. So after two years, it’s $110.30. And then $115.80. And so on and so on.

That concept is called compound interest. You get interest on the interest you already earned, and it builds on itself year after year. If you start talking about amounts that are much bigger than $100. Like $100,000 or so? Then those amounts start adding up like crazy.

Now remember that the exact same thing happens to money that you OWE someone.

Never forget this.”

#9. In the long run.

“How to cook for yourself and do your own laundry. Also, tons of financial stuff, learning to properly handle money now will help you out a ton in the long run.”

#8. You never know.

“The two things I used in college that I wished I had known all along were WolframAlpha and the automation features in Excel.

Wolframalpha.com can do integrals, derivatives, areas, volumes, and even compare things like “Number of men in New York City divided by the number of women in Nanjing” which is pretty cool.

Excel can do a lot of work for you if you learn a few tools. VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts will be super helpful.

It won’t hurt anybody if you do learn some very rudimentary programming as well. There are plenty of free Java tutorials that can give you some tools you can apply to a lot of topics. For example, my wife got a masters in Public Health, and never imagined she’d use programming, but she ended up having to learn a statistical analysis tool that basically needs to be programmed to use. You never know.”

#7. How to ask for help.

“Learn how to ask for help. Don’t have someone else do everything for you, but it’s good to recognize when you genuinely don’t know how to do something so that you can ask someone who does. Can save a lot of time and stress, and you’ll probably learn it better than if you just muddled through on your own.”

#6. Labors of love.

“General yard labour, just to get a little bit of an idea of how to use some tools, and do some sort of manual labour.”

#5. Challenge ideas.

“How to think critically. Challenge ideas from your parents, your teachers, what you see, what you read. Above all those, challenge the ideas of your peers.

And read a damn book once in a while, just for fun.”

#4. Life skills.

“Sewing. The ability to replace buttons and repair small tears will save you a lot of money on clothing you would otherwise throw out or replace.

Cooking. You can make healthy, delicious food for a lot less money than eating out. Bonus for guys, chicks dig a guy who can cook well.

Reading. In a lot of schools, reading is not taught very well, so students commonly feel like it isn’t worth their time to read because they never learned to enjoy it. Books are great free entertainment and they are a wonderful way to learn and grow as a person!

Exercise. You need to know how to keep yourself fit, because it is a hell of a lot easier to get fit at 13 and stay that way than it is to try to get fit at 30.

Work Ethic. Any task worth doing is worth doing well. Cliche? Yes, but cliches exist for a reason, they are constantly applicable. Learn how to work well, how to get shit done without complaining or shirking. Employers and peers recognize people with good work ethics and respect them for it.

Dressing. Learn how to dress well, what clothes work for your body shape and what don’t. Learn how to match and contrast colors and put together outfits. Seriously, this is a very underrated skill and it can pay off. Simply looking stylish and put together can get you through doors that might otherwise be closed.

Finance. Develop good financial habits now, and they will pay dividends (pun intended) later. Live within your means. If you have a credit card, live by a rule of “if I can’t pay off the balance at the end of the month, I can’t afford it.” This one took me WAY too long to learn and I’m trying to play catch up.”

#3. Think for yourself.

“Learn to think for yourself. I’m not saying go out and challenge all authority but don’t let people push you into doing things you don’t want to do in life. Listen to what people have to say, absorb that information and form your own opinions and ideas from it. Too many people get pushed into careers or educational paths they don’t necessarily want to go into because they feel pressured by one person or another to do it. Think before you do.”

#2. Phone calls.

“Learn how to make serious phone calls for making appointments or asking for info. If online info about a business or service is vague or confusing, being able to directly ask a person makes things much less confusing.

It helps to develop a short script to frontload relevant info. “hello, my name is [X], I’m calling to ask about [y]/ I’m calling to schedule an appointment with [z], etc…”

Then learn info that’s commonly needed alongside it for when they ask for it. Address, phone number they can reach you at, driver’s license number, (careful with this one) SSN if you’re in America. Only give that sorta info out when asked, have it ready to go though.

Phone calls still have a very important role in communication even today, and when you need to do serious planning with someone else there’s no substitute to a phone call save for face-to-face meeting.”

#1. Types of knots.

“How to do 1 or 2 different types of tie knots. Regardless of gender this is both easy and quite useful. Being able to make a tie look really good can sometimes save the day.”

 

Good luck out there, parents of teens!

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Here’s What Monthly Income It Takes to Rent a House in Each State

Looking to take the big step and move out on your own? I mean, you can’t stay in your parents’ basement forever, right? Well…some people do, but I’m not so sure you want them as role models.

HowMuch.net recently put together an interesting infographic that shows just how much income you need to rent a house in every state. Needless to say, it might be time to ask for a raise.

(Click the image to expand)

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Based on research data from the popular housing website Zillow, HowMuch calculated the average price of rental property in each state. The final number shown on the map is based on the rule that housing costs should not exceed 30 percent of net income. Whether you are a math whiz or not, it does not take a genius to figure out that renting a home takes a whole lot of cash.

Though the map does not take into account variances by city, there are some eye-popping numbers that will also have your bank account cringing with fear.

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Care to rent a home in the nation’s capital? To nab the average rental property, you’ll need to make nearly $8,500 per month. Good luck having anything left over for furniture.

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Other pricey states for housing rentals include California ($8,313), Hawaii ($7,806) and New York ($7,223). I don’t know about you, but at that price living at home is starting to sound a lot more appealing.

Depending on your location and finances, it may even make sense to buy rather than rent. It’s important to do your research and crunch the numbers before you plunge into the housing market. Then again, maybe spending another year down the hall from mom and dad isn’t so bad after all.

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Here’s Why So Many People Are Afraid of Clowns

Clowns are meant to make people smile and laugh – everything from their appearance to their act contributes to that exact goal – so why do so many people find them absolutely horrifying? Chances are you probably know someone who’s afraid of clowns (or are afraid of them yourself) and the slew of clown-themed scary movies and Halloween costumes goes to show that this phenomenon isn’t going away any time soon.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

But believe it or not, It is not to blame, nor are the terrifying spate of creepy clown sightings back in 2016 – those people are just playing off a common fear. It turns out that the fear could be emanating from collective human memory.

The history of the clown, according to Yale doctoral candidate Danielle Bainbridge, is related to the stereotype of the unsettling, outsider funny man, which dates back to the court jester. These men typically weren’t evil child murderers toting red balloons, but they didn’t fall within society’s normal hierarchy, either, and would have been considered untrustworthy outsiders among the “normal” folk.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

After that came the harlequins of the Middle Ages who performed in the Italian street theatre called “Commedia Dell’Arte”. Harlequin was actually the name of one of many stock characters. These performers weren’t intentionally scary, but their acts definitely weren’t for kids – their jokes were explicit and morally bankrupt, and their strange costumes were meant to make audiences slightly uncomfortable.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

From the 19th century into modernity, the white-faced, kid-friendly circus clowns have prevailed, but society as a whole hasn’t been able to shake the creepier associations from our past. If anything, films like It, Killer Clowns from Outer Space, and Poltergeist just prove that our ancestors may have passed along their fears and distrust through the centuries.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

I don’t know if that’s possible, but it certainly seems as if the past is whispering to a large number of modern day people that there’s good reason to head the other way when a grown person wearing big, floppy shoes and a red wig starts heading their way.

And history has a way of, you know. Repeating.

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Michael Jackson begged the director…

Michael Jackson begged the director of the Thriller film to destroy it because members of his church had told him the song promoted demonology. Instead of destroying it he was convinced by his lawyer to put a disclaimer at the beggining of the short film. 00

These 15+ Celebrity Costumes Totally Won Halloween This Year

Celebrities have certainly outdone themselves with Halloween costumes this year. Of course, it helps to have a decent bit of disposable income to make your wildest ideas come true.

Color me impressed (and jealous).

1. Ryan Seacrest as Punky Brewster

Photo Credit: Instagram

2. Teyana Taylor Kitana from Mortal Kombat

Photo Credit: Instagram

3. Ariel Winter and her boyfriend as Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock

Photo Credit: Instagram

4. Joey Fatone from The Shining

Photo Credit: Instagram

5. Nicky Hilton as 21-year-old Paris Hilton

Photo Credit: Instagram

6. Rita Ora as Post Malone

Photo Credit: Instagram

7. Zoë Kravtiz as a sleepy vampire

Photo Credit: Instagram

8. Gabrielle Union as Gwen Stefani

Photo Credit: Instagram

9. Nina Dobrev as A Star is Born

Photo Credit: Instagram

10. Kylie Jenner and baby Stormi as skeletons

Photo Credit: Instagram

11. Olivia Munn from Crazy Rich Asians

Photo Credit: Instagram

12. John Legend and his daughter

Photo Credit: Instagram

13. Kendall Jenner as a Fembot from Austin Powers

Photo Credit: Instagram

14. Harry Styles as Elton John

Photo Credit: Instagram

15. Halsey as Poison Ivy

Photo Credit: Twitter

16. And the mother of all Halloween-loving celebs…Heidi Klum

Photo Credit: Instagram, nikkifontaine

Yeah, that’s Heidi Klum.

 

Okay, now that I look back on it, my costume was not very impressive…

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10+ More of the Biggest “Plot Twists” People Have Experienced in Their Lives

We typically only think of plot twists as things that happen in the movies – a big reveal that changes all that came before it. But, sometimes, they make their way into real life in surprising ways.

These 12 people took to Reddit to share some of the most surprising plot twists from their lives.

Enjoy!

1. A medical evaluation

“My wife’s uncle is an incredibly nice guy who absolutely adores his wife. We started hearing about marital issues. He was becoming more and more argumentative. And then he hit her. They separated. He harassed her to the point that she got a restraining order. He defied the restraining order and was put in jail.

In jail, his issues got him a medical evaluation. Turns out, he had a brain tumor. They removed it. He returned to normal and was released from jail. They’re back together with him back to his wife-adoring self.”

2. Birth father

“I was adopted from South America to the US when I was a toddler and have no memory of my birth parents. I had an older friend/mentor I met in college. I knew him as Mike. He got me involved in the local church and always went out of his way to help me when I needed someone. I never got to thank him for being there for all the times I needed him. After graduating from college I got to meet my birth mother. She did not know where my father was though. When she died, I got a few of her belongings including some pictures. Guess who was in those pictures?

Mike. He was my birth father.

I tried to reach out to him again and I haven’t heard anything.

No one seems to know where he is now. He knew all of those years that he helped me and went out of his way. I knew this because he always seemed to help me even though he didn’t need to. Back then I just thought he was especially nice but thinking back now he definitely knew something about our relationship that I did not.”

3. *Drop the mic*

“A few years ago, I got invited to a friend’s engagement party. They were throwing a huge bash because they were planning on a very small destination wedding. Later in the evening, my friend’s fiancé took the mic and started thanking everyone for being there.

‘Sorry, Jen will be out to thank you guys in a minute, she’s just having a wardrobe malfunction.’ He went on to tell the story about how they met, how they were best friends and decided to get engaged and finished with something along the lines of, ‘We wish you could all be there and that we could get married right now.

So we’re going to.’

Out walks Jen in her wedding dress.”

4. Dementia

“During the last year of my grandfather’s life, he had dementia and was having trouble keeping track of reality. Before he was placed into hospice, he kept complaining about a man that was in his house. He would say that he would come around at night and that he was taking his things and using his stuff. Grandma, of course, kept reassuring him that she was the only one there. His doctor increased his medications because he was losing touch with reality so badly.

Fast forward to my grandfather’s funeral and a man showed up who wasn’t known by more than a few people in the family.

Turns out, he was an old friend of my grandmother’s who showed up to give his support. In a small town like that, it wasn’t exactly an unusual thing to have random people show up to the funeral home who knew the person at some point.

Well, about a year later, my grandmother let slip that she was seeing someone: the guy from the funeral. At this point nothing too odd, they got to talking at church and we thought it was sweet.

Then a bit later sweet, innocent ol’ grandma mentioned that it was their third anniversary.

Grandpa died two years prior. This man was the person that grandpa saw in his house every night. He was the reason that everyone thought grandpa was going crazy, he was the reason that my grandfather was medicated to the point of being a vegetable for the last horrible year of his life.”

5. Bitter rivals

“The little town I grew up in had these two car dealerships on opposite sides of town – one Chevy, one Ford.

They were bitter rivals. Attack ads, bad mouthing talking salesman, billboard wars, you name it.

When the owner of the Chevy dealership died, it came out he’d also owned the Ford dealership by way of a shell company.

No one saw that coming, including a lot of the higher-ups who worked at the dealerships.”

6. Reserved and distant

“My grandfather’s funeral. He was always a fairly reserved and distant father, as far as I understood. He would definitely fit the stereotype of a northern dockworker who comes home expecting dinner to be on the table and then goes to the pub all evening via the bookies.

Anyway, an unsurprising heart attack later, we all gathered for his funeral.

We’re a big, but close family so we know everyone, including his friends. However, one guy turns up, about the same age as my dad and his siblings, who nobody knew.

Long story short, turns out it was my grandfather’s son.

From another family. From another marriage. That went on for as long as his marriage to my grandmother. My grandfather had maintained two marriages over 40 years, having seven children with my grandmother and just the one with this other woman.

They knew about our family and kept away. Apparently, my grandmother knew about them but kept quiet.

Turns out he wasn’t going to the pub every night.”

7. First apartment and new job

“1991, I was 19 and had just signed the lease for my first (solo) apartment. I just got the first paycheck from my new job and I deposited the paycheck at an ATM (another first! I’d always gone into the bank to do it).

Two weeks later, I got my bank statement in the mail and saw with horror that I had only $1.87 in my account. Way wrong, I should have at least $200, I’d been very careful with my spending. I freaked, I came within $2 of bouncing my first rent check.

I was literally reaching for the phone to call the bank when the phone rang.

It’s the police, asking if my ATM card was stolen. I checked my wallet and the card was missing (my job at a theater pub came with cash tips so I didn’t use the card often), and told them I was about to call them anyway because I was missing $200 from my account.

‘Well, we’ve got your card, and your $200, so come down to the police station,’ they told me.

I couldn’t figure out how they have my card AND the cash. It just didn’t make sense, so I drove down there.

The detective said someone (let’s call him Bob) pulled in to use an ATM and saw a man acting suspiciously while he was using it: moving back and forth as if trying to dodge the camera.

Bob said the man then left the ATM, got into a car, and drove away at high speeds as if fleeing the scene. Bob then went to the ATM and put his card in, which popped out. Bob then withdrew $200, and then another ATM card popped out.

My card. Bob’s card had popped out because the crook had left my card in the ATM before speeding away. Bob realized he had withdrawn the money from my account, not his, so he brought my card and the cash to the police and reported the attempted theft.

The detective gave me the description of the crook.

According to Bob, it was a man 5’7″, brown hair, round gold-rimmed glasses. I say out loud, ‘So, about my height, my color hair, and glasses like mine,’ before realizing Bob was describing me.

I’d never deposited a check in an ATM before, so I was moving back and forth, following the instructions on the screen, filling out the envelope with my account number, punching the amount in, etc.

I then forgot to take my card out and just left because I’m a giant idiot. I drove away at high speeds because I was 19 and that’s how I drove everywhere.

Worried the detective might be annoyed, I didn’t tell him I was the crook, I just thanked him and left with the money I ‘stole’ from myself.

Somewhere in a box in my closet, I still have the police report where I’m both the victim and the perp.”

8. Stalker

“When I was a senior in high school, there was freshman girl that ‘Single White Femaled’ me. She would follow me around and tell me how cool and funny I was. She asked what hair product I used, what body spray, where I bought my clothes, etc.

I was not funny or cool, and honestly, it was flattering at first. She styled her hair like mine but it was a high school in the 90’s and we all pretty much did our hair the same. Then she started dressing like me. Then she got involved in all the activities I was in.

Then she started telling people we were cousins. She found my home number in the phone book (again, the 90’s) and would call me all the freaking time. It was weird. I just went out of my way to avoid her.

After my graduation ceremony, she found me on the field and hugged me. She was sobbing- big ugly, snotty sobs- telling me how she was going to miss me and the school wouldn’t be the same without me there. I peaced out and then completely forgot about her.

Flash forward nine years and I’m just beginning to date the man that is now my husband.

We’re going through old pictures and I see this girl from high school. And I’m like, ‘Hey! I know this girl! She was this weird chick that stalked me in high school! Why do you have a picture of her?’

It was his ex-wife.”

9. A perfect match

“I met a guy online, he was cool, found out he lived less than two hours from where I live.

We meet up. First time seeing each other’s actual faces.

Total doppelgangers.

Turns out his father is my bio father’s older brother.

Both our bio dads bailed before we were born. We both were abused as kids by teachers (him at 15, me at 13). Both us have soy allergies and Lysinuric Protein Intolerance (it’s genetic).

And both of us joined the army and failed out during BCT due to undiagnosed mental health issues.

Our lives had run parallel to each other. He’s only a year older than me.

We meet every month for drinks.”

10. Brutal

“My high school sweetheart’s best friend let me know that my girlfriend cheated on me with multiple guys at a party. I broke things off with her that same day. It was a very nasty breakup.

Years and years later, I got a message on Facebook from her best friend.

She explained to me that my high school sweetheart never cheated on me, she just wanted to break us up so that she could have me for herself because I seemed like the ‘perfect boyfriend.’

Her plan backfired because I thought she was ugly, inside and out, and as soon as I broke things off with my girlfriend, I wanted nothing to do with her.

Between her plan failing and the guilt of ruining an otherwise great relationship, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

I don’t know if she told her best friend, but I know that I never will.”

11. So noble

“My sister’s boyfriend decided that he wanted to do more with his architecture skills, so he gave his two weeks notice and moved to Haiti to help rebuild after the earthquake. They stayed together. He had bad phone service, so they mostly kept in touch through emails.

He would send her long emails with photos and stories of what they were doing. This went on for a couple of months.

One off-handed tip from a co-worker and a week of sleuthing later and it turns out he never went to Haiti.

He moved to Seattle to be with his fiance and partner of nine years.”

12. Sort of looked familiar

“I met this girl out at a bar, got her name and number and we agreed to meet up for lunch. Lunch dates are nice because you automatically have a discreet timeframe.

We were chatting before ordering and we got to talking about who I knew from the small town she was from.

I mentioned that she has the same last name as my cousins who live there, just spelled differently. She asked who and I couldn’t remember their first names, but the two youngest are twins. She said, ‘X and Y?’

I said, ‘YES!

that’s it!’ We aren’t a terribly close family.

I looked at her and she was curled up in the smallest posture in what feels like she is sitting behind her chair as she said, ‘I was married to X.’

I let out a tremendous laugh and said, ‘I thought you sort of looked familiar.

You were at grandpa’s funeral right?’ She says yes, and I smirked saying, ‘Thought you were cute then too.’

I hadn’t eaten yet and was starving, so we ordered a sandwich and tried to pretend it wasn’t weird.

When the date ended, I called my mom immediately and told her coyly about the date I had.

Me: ‘Hey mom.’

Mom: ‘Hey honey, how’s it going?’

Me: ‘I just went on this date with this great girl, so much in common blah blah blah, I don’t know if we’ll see each other again though.’

Mom: ‘Why not?’

Me: ‘You and Dad went to her first wedding!’

Couldn’t have made a story up that was this good if I tried.”

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12+ People Reveal Crazy Rules Their Strict Parents Made Them Follow When They Were Kids

As a parent, it’s important to set rules for your children. Otherwise, they won’t learn key disciplines that will serve them well later in life. But sometimes, parents can go a little overboard in the rules department.

If strict curfews were your biggest worry growing up, then you had it good compared to these kids. Now that they’re all grown up, these kids with strict parents hopped on Reddit to reveal the most ridiculous rules they had to follow.

1. No straws

My dad wouldn’t let me use straws because he said they could cut through my tongue or cheek like a hole punch.

2. Rude

My mom didn’t allow the phrase “shut up.”

3. Too violent

I wasn’t allowed to watch most cartoons until I was a teenager. My mom thought Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Mighty Mouse, etc. were all too violent.”

4. Satan is everywhere

No heavy metal, no Harry Potter because it was satanic, and no D&D or Magic: The Gathering because, again, it was satanic.

5. Liar, liar

No using the words “lie,” “liar,” “lying.” Instead we had to say “That’s not the truth” or “That doesn’t sound right.”

6. No talking at dinner

No talking at the dinner table other than the occasional “Do you want some (more) of ___?” Or “Please pass the ___.” We could not talk about anything at all. I make it a point now, with my kids, to chat up a storm each and every meal.

7. Even thinking of it counts

My husband wasn’t allowed to say “frigging” or “gosh” or “fudge” or “goodness” or “sugar” or even “oh, fiddlesticks!” because it meant he was thinking a swear word and “it’s the thought that counts.”

8. Huh?

No drinking water from my bathroom. My bathroom genuinely had colder water and the best water in the house. I don’t know what she possibly thought I was doing, but I had to drink lukewarm peasant water like the rest of my family.

9. How is that fair?

We were punished if my friends broke their own family rules. So Sally sneaks out or gets a tattoo without telling her mom, her mom tells my mom, and my mom grounds us.

10. At least you got an extra hour

Curfew was 11 p.m. for me until I was 21. Now, I’m 23 and have moved out, and when I go home to visit, my curfew is STILL midnight.

11. Was Mario based on a book?

My friend’s parents had a rule that if they wanted too see a movie or get a game, they would have to read the book it was based on first.

12. Grounded for saying “always”

No saying “never” and “always” — because nothing is “never” or “always.” My parents saw these words as exaggeration. For example, if I said something like “Man, we always have chicken for dinner,” I would be reprimanded or grounded.

13. No texting after 10

No texting or calling after 10 p.m. on school nights and midnight on weekends.

14. Fart is a curse word

We couldn’t say “stupid,” “shut up,” “heck,” “darn,” “freaking,” or “fart.”

15. Look both ways

I wasn’t allowed to cross the street until I was 13.

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A Lot of People Are Curious About Brain Fingerprinting Because of ‘Making a Murderer’

Making a Murderer became an overnight sensation when it was released back in December 2015. True crime fans couldn’t help but binge the fascinating deconstruction of our criminal justice system as it related to the case of Steven Avery. Now, the Netflix show is now back for a second season, and the debate is once again raging over whether Avery murdered photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005 in Wisconsin.

Photo Credit: Netflix

Sketchy evidence and the unsteady testimony of Avery’s nephew and alleged co-conspirator have caused many to believe that Avery is being railroaded by the justice system for a crime he didn’t commit.

One of the more intriguing aspects of Season Two of the series is an examination that Avery’s defense attorney Kathleen Zellner suggested he submit to. In episode two of the new season, Avery wears a head-mounted sensor and goes through a test known as the Farwell Brain Fingerprinting test.

Photo Credit: Netflix

The test was first used in a criminal investigation in 1999 and is designed to look for a surge of electrical activity in the brain roughly 300 milliseconds after a person see something familiar. In Avery’s case, he was put through the test and was given details of the crime that he’s accused of to see if his brain registered familiarity and pointed toward his guilt in the case.

The forensics community is divided on whether brain fingerprinting is reliable. Larry Farwell, the man who created the test, says that his research has been supervised by the FBI, the U.S. Navy, and the CIA and that those organizations have confirmed its accuracy. Farwell also points to the case of Terry Harrington, a man who spent 24 years in prison for murder and was eventually exonerated following a brain fingerprint test and an eyewitness recanting their testimony.

Photo Credit: Facebook, Larry Farwell

Critics of the technique say that Farwell’s peer-reviewed study sample size is too small (only 30 people) and that guilty subjects are able to pass the test by simply not paying attention to the images that are presented to them to trigger a response. Also, there have only been a few tests given to known guilty parties so far.

For now, Farwell’s brain fingerprinting device is not admissible in court and more tests need to be done to prove how accurate the test is. As for Steven Avery, he passed the past.

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