Communicating Differently
Trying to have a conversation without using my voice was very difficult, I had a very hard time trying to say what I was thinking just using my body language. The conversation felt very one sided and the person I was talking to had utmost control while I could barely answer. My partner did in fact change the way they communicating to me by having a one sided conversation that I did not have to answer to.
My partner was in control of the entire conversation and he initiated the entire conversation. I was answering the questions while he had asked them. The conversation balance of power went ninety- seven percent to the person I had the conversation with and three percent for myself.
Imagine that you and your partners in the conversation represent two different cultures, one that uses
spoken language and one that doesn’t. The speaking culture has the advantage in the conversation because reading body language is more easy than trying to figure out what the other is saying. The speaking culture might get frustrated that the nonverbal culture cannot understand what they are saying. I can identify with this being on both sides of the conversation because of my work experience in retail. I had a deaf, nonverbal customer during my time working at the Disneyland Resort. I have very minimal knowledge of American Sign Language and right away during the start of the conversation I knew that this guest and I communicate differently; and I had to be very quick to react to accommodate for this person to uphold Disney's customer service. So I took some of the receipt tape and a pen and communicated with pen and paper. The other experience I had several times during my time at the Disneyland Resort, and this was with Spanish speaking guests. Whether they were asking questions about merchandise or helping them at the cash wrap. I know the bare minimum of the Spanish language, so again to uphold Disney's customer service if I could not answer by using body language, then I would find another cast member that could so their questions could be fully answered.
Part 2: Communicating without any physical embellishments, i.e., no hand signals, no alteration in your tone of voice, no head, facial, or body movements.
Communicating without physical embellishments was much easier than part one but the conversation was lackluster. My partner seemed bored during the conversation and did not seem to want to continue. I think my mundane reaction to the length of the conversation made my partner feel I did not want to be talking to him.
This experiment says that "signs" in our language is important because our facial expressions signal the emotions that we are feeling during the conversation. Nonverbal notions are very important while communicating with another person because it keeps the conversation more enjoyable for the other person knowing again that the person they are talking to is paying attention by reacting non-verbally.
The ability to read body language spreads to most life on earth, not just humans. The adaptive benefit to reading body language is to be able to understand how someone or something is feeling without having to speak to them. For example a dog giving body language to its owner. The ability to understand and to interpret body language can help you to pick up on unspoken issues, problems or negative feelings that other people might have.
People who are having a hard time reading body language are pretty easy to spot because the you can tell the other person could looked annoyed or uncomfortable. A situation that might be a benefit to not reading someone’s body language would be if you had to focus solely on the words they spoke rather than the body language they were giving off. Some professions train people to give off certain body language to distract from what they are presenting, for example a sales person.
This experiment says that "signs" in our language is important because our facial expressions signal the emotions that we are feeling during the conversation. Nonverbal notions are very important while communicating with another person because it keeps the conversation more enjoyable for the other person knowing again that the person they are talking to is paying attention by reacting non-verbally.
The ability to read body language spreads to most life on earth, not just humans. The adaptive benefit to reading body language is to be able to understand how someone or something is feeling without having to speak to them. For example a dog giving body language to its owner. The ability to understand and to interpret body language can help you to pick up on unspoken issues, problems or negative feelings that other people might have.
People who are having a hard time reading body language are pretty easy to spot because the you can tell the other person could looked annoyed or uncomfortable. A situation that might be a benefit to not reading someone’s body language would be if you had to focus solely on the words they spoke rather than the body language they were giving off. Some professions train people to give off certain body language to distract from what they are presenting, for example a sales person.
Great image!
ReplyDeletePart 1:
I would have appreciated a bit more detail in your opening description. Tell us the story of what you experienced.
Good discussion on the issue of power and control.
I agree with your conclusion regarding the communication of complex ideas and the attitude of the speaking to the non-speaking culture. I appreciate how you were able to draw connections with your own personal experience to identify a good real-life example of this experiment.
Part 2:
"I think my mundane reaction to the length of the conversation made my partner feel I did not want to be talking to him."
Do you think it is that simple? The response of the partners is usually the most interesting part of this experiment, with some of them responding so strongly that they get angry and walk out. So it is worth asking why they respond as they do. What is missing from the conversation that makes them uncomfortable? Is it just a simple issue of "boredom"? See below for more information on what might be missing here.
"...it keeps the conversation more enjoyable..."
Let's recognize that body language benefits go beyond the enjoyment of a conversation. The reason it is part of this assignment is because it can impact our very survival. 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).
Okay on the benefits of body language, but what type of benefits do you get by being able to detect liars?
"People who are having a hard time reading body language are pretty easy to spot because the you can tell the other person could looked annoyed or uncomfortable. "
But can you identify them here for your reader? 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).
While I agree that some people are trained to over-emphasize some body language to manipulate you, there are usually "tells" (like in playing poker) because body language is very difficult to fake. Moreover, if a person is lying to you, body language may be the only way to detect it. Would you really want to give up the only indicator that you were being lied to?
But is there any situation you can think of where body language might actually mislead you, not because the person is lying but because you don't know how to read the body language? Do all cultures use the same system of body language? They all use different systems of spoken/written language, so why would we assume their body language isn't different? If you travel to another country, can you trust the information you get from their body language?