Part 1:
By the end of the 15 minutes I was frustrated. Our conversation did not go in to much depth due to the fact that I could not convey specifically what I was thinking through mere gestures. I could agree or disagree with what was being said, but I could not give reason behind it, therefore I found this very difficult. My partner and my conversation was slower and “drier” than a normal conversation we would have where we could both communicate verbally because she posed her questions and statements in ways that only needed a simple response.
My partner was the one in control. It was impossible for me to change a topic other than when I would get frustrated and drop the topic as a whole, prompting my partner to move on to something else. My partner definitely had more power in this conversation, and it was not balanced. I had to follow where she was going at all times.
The culture that communicates verbally is going to have the advantage in communicating more complex ideas. Imagine if our presidential candidates could not communicate verbally, we would not understand what they stood for. They may be able to communicate simple ideas, but complex ideas and answers during debates would be impossible.
Part 2:
This took me longer than I originally thought, because every time I used some sort of non-verbal communication, my partner would stop the conversation and we would basically start over. This became frustrating but it forced me to consciously think of what I was doing and how I use non-verbal communication so frequently. It was hard for my partner to read exactly how I was feeling on certain topics. I could not give any hints towards the feelings behind the words I was speaking which led to miscommunication on multiple occasions.
Non-verbal communication is very important to how we communicate with others. It is something we do not often realize, until we are forced to not use it. Techniques are important for the sole reason of miscommunication. If you do not have a certain technique to how you speak with certain inflections or body language, it hinders your ability to fully communicate everything you are thinking or feeling. We can often read a person’s emotions behind their words when we are aware of their non-verbal communication.
The ability to read body language helps in many situations. Someone’s body language often gives of “vibes” more or less and as humans, we pick up on those vibes and are often able to sense fear, violence, etc.
My mom is someone who has difficulty reading body language because she often reads too far in to things. I think that is a downside to body language is sometimes it can be misinterpreted, just like ay form of communication. It would be beneficial in the work place to not be able to read someone’s body language, because the perceptions made based on what someone is saying can take away from the point they are trying to get across if it is strictly logical. We often want to find the “hidden meaning” in what someone is saying, but in this case, that could have a negative effect on the relationship.
I also found these tasks to be relatively frustrating, as there is no easy way to convey what is on your mind without communicating in the only ways we know how. Interestingly, I found that I was the one in lead of the conversation, despite not really being able to speak or communicate to well. I suppose it would depend on patience or a partner who curiously tries to decipher silly gestures in order to lead a conversation like that. I also stated that a culture which can communicate verbally would have the advantage because of the ability to exchange more complex ideas. I think that non-verbal communication is something that we do in fact utilize more than you may think, but it goes less noticed than our verbal communication. I think that we are so used to being able to easily express ourselves both verbally and physically that we do not realize how difficult it is to do without either. It is true that misinterpretation can be a large downfall in any form of communication. That is why being unable to read body language can prove to be such a problem. Thank you for your post.
ReplyDeleteGood opening description of Part 1. Well done explaining the issues of power and control in the conversation and communicating complex ideas.
ReplyDeleteMissing the other two points in that third section? What would be the attitude of the speaking toward the non-speaking culture? Can you give a real-life example that mirrors the conditions in this experiment? To find a real life example of this experiment, we need to find a situation where you have a speaking population and another group that doesn't speak that language. We see that in the interaction between English speakers and non-English speaking immigrant populations. Think about how non-English speaking immigrants are treated in Southern California? Are they treated as equals?
I don't disagree with your conclusions regarding the information we receive from body language, but you are only considering the situation where body language matches and supports the information you receive from spoken language. What does it tell you when the body language doesn't match the spoken language? Humans tend to use body language as a type of lie detector. If spoken words don't match with the body language, we are more inclined to believe the body language and doubt the words. Think about how being able to detect liars might help an individual's ability to survive and reproduce (which applies to the next section).
Third section was very short of information. As this is a course in the biological evolution of humans, this was a key section and should have been covered more thoroughly.
Like all human traits, there is normal variation in expression, and the ability to read body language is no different. But beyond that, there are groups of people who have great difficulty or an outright inability to read body language due to physical or mental disability, such as those who are in the autism spectrum or those who are blind (though they can read vocal intonation).
Body language didn't evolve for social convenience. It evolved because it benefited humans in some way that impacted their survival, so if you are getting accurate information from someone's body language, you can still choose to ignore it, but that doesn't describe a situation whee body language will be giving you false information that could endanger you. So when might body language of others mislead you and it would be better to ignore it? Do all cultures use the same system of body language? If you travel to another country, can you trust the information you get from their body language?