1)
I asked my boyfriend do do this experiment with me just because I was curious at how the conversation would go and how he would react, since he knew me, and my body language very well. At first he was a little confused as to how to react and just started asking me a lot of yeas and no questions which wasn’t very challenging for either of us. After a few minutes into the first part of the experiment we both started to get goofier with each other and had a lot of fun with the experiment and how sometimes he would misinterpret what i was trying to say back to him. I definitely saw a change in the way my boyfriend communicated with me. He would try not to be to complex with questions so that i could respond with more simple reactions.
My boyfriend was definitely in control of the conversation the whole time. He was able to manipulate the conversation easily because he was able to communicate to me fast and more precise/ detailed than I could. Most of the time all I could do was react to what he was saying and express how i felt with facial reactions. He would shoot off multiple questions at once time and I could hardly keep up with him in the conversation. I don’t think that I was able to squeeze in a question or really knew how to ask a question, so I was really the only only one answering the questions.
If my boyfriend and I represented two different kinds of cultures, the culture that my boyfriend represents would have the advantage in communicating complex ideas within this population. The culture that can use spoken language might look down on or feel more superior than the culture that can only use eye and body movements to communicate. A situation in real life that compares to these two cultures trying to communicate with each other would be a mother and her child.
Part 2)
My boyfriend and I found the second part of the experiment to be extremely awkward and confusing in some situations. Through this experiment you could only rely on spoken words and that is it making it hard to understand not what people are saying but the emotions and intentions behind what I was saying. He was having a hard time understanding if i was trying to crack a joke, being sassy, or being completely serious most of the time and it started to get a little bit annoying in some ways.
This experiment shows that our use of signs in our language is important in the way we communicate. It helps our emotions sign through making it easier for other people to gauge how they should react. It is the best way for human beings to react and show emotion towards other humans or objects.
Being able to read body language makes it so that humans can understand each other and add depth to what they are trying to convey at the time. Reading some bodies body language can help in situations like hunting. When two people are hunting an animal together, they can use body language instead of speaking to each other verbally so they can sneak up on the animal so that it doesn’t run away.
Yes, there are people that have certain disorders that make it hard for them to read people's emotions and body languages. A situation of not being able to use body language as a means of communication would be when texting somebody over the phone. There is still communication but you cannot actually read the other person's body to see how they are feeling or if they are using sarcasm for example.
Part A:
ReplyDeleteGood description of your first experiment and good discussion on the issue of power in the conversation.
I agree with your conclusions regarding speaking vs. non-speaking cultures. With regard to your real-life example, keep in mind we are talking about a conversation where the power dynamic favors the speaking person, not the non-speaking. Does the relationship between a mother and child represent this dynamic? The mother has incentive to work hard to understand what that child needs and to make sure they are taken care of, regardless of the child's ability to speak, right? So in this case, the child has a high level of power in the relationship, even without speech.
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?
Part B:
Good opening description of your second experiment.
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).
Okay on the benefits of body language, but what type of benefits do you get by being able to detect liars?
"Yes, there are people that have certain disorders that make it hard for them to read people's emotions and body languages."
Such as??? How about those in the autism spectrum or those who are blind (though they can read vocal intonation)?
The real-life situation you are describing is a case where body language isn't available (though we do create it via emojis), not a situation where it would be better to NOT read body language, where you have a choice to do so. Think about a situation where body language might lie to you. 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?
Hi Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteMy partner too ask easy questions such as ones for the answers to either be a yes or no answer. I too had many times when my partner and I would start laughing because it is weird not being able to talk in order to communicate with one another. I enjoyed your blog post I could relate to the many obstacles that you because I had very similar ones.