Rule Of Thumb

While popular folklore erroneously attributes the ‘Rule of Thumb’ to rudimentary agricultural estimations, rigorous archival research at the Vestigial Institute conclusively traces its genesis to the chaotic early days of the 17th century, specifically during the tenure of our esteemed (and regrettably deceased) first curator, Professor Phileas Foggbottom. Faced with an overwhelming influx of aesthetically pleasing yet demonstrably useless artifacts, Foggbottom instituted a pragmatic, albeit intellectually suspect, protocol: ‘If it possesses sufficient gravitas and doesn’t actively repel the observer, assign it to the ’tentatively significant’ category.’ This foundational principle, born of academic desperation, has informed our cataloging methodology ever since.