Part 1:
In the experiment of limited communication, I found it to be quite difficult to express my thoughts fully. Initially, I thought that since I know how to communicate, as I do it everyday, this would be easy. When I tried to express myself through gestures, I began to realize that I'd have to emit a lot more effort than with speaking along. I also realized that in order for the group I was communicating with to understand what I was trying to tell them, they'd need some sort of background of my form of communication; which they didn't have.
The impressions that they had left me with were of confusion. They had only a slight idea of what I was trying to tell them, and even then they still had parts of information incorrect. They way they spoke to me at first was how they'd normally speak. After many failed efforts of being able to comprehend what I was communicating back to them, they began to speak at a more remedial level, hoping that my response would be more easily understandable.
If we were two different cultures meeting for the first time, the culture with the ability to speak and identify objects by a commonly used name, and incorporate body language into their communication would be able to communicate complex ideas. The first set of individuals that have a difficulty communicating spoken language in our own culture, are babies. When they communicate with adults, they use mostly body language; they point, grab our hands and pull us to their desires, they tap our legs and look into the direction they want us to go. However, when we speak to them, we don't use fully complex and incomprehensible terminology; we speak at a very basic and understandable level. We point to objects and address them by using "one word" phrases, we will often repeat the word to the child and press their hand against the object so that they can identify it in the future.
Part 2:
When I started to speak with no tone emphasis and no other form of expression, it seemed possible. After a few minutes of speaking that way I wasn't able to continue; I started to slightly use some intonation. Being that I am very expressive when I speak, it came naturally when I started to speak normally. What made this the most difficult for me was, forcing myself out of my comfort zone. Sitting very still, not nodding my head to suit the expression of my words, holding my facial muscles still when they're naturally programmed to curve over my words and to keep my hands on my lap without implying seriousness or firmness of my points almost made me feel alien to my own body.
This experiment has shown me that in order to communicate an idea effectively, the possession of the ability to speak well and the use of bodily gestures as emphasis for your words is required. We are beings who express ideas to one another because of the passion we have for them. Without the body gestures, our passion begins to wither. Words can only carry our message so far, it's the difference in tone and pitch, the movement of limbs and facial muscles that our corespondent's attention thrives off of.
Yes, some people do have difficulty reading body language. Though I believe it is rare, it's still possible. Being able to read body language also gives you the ability to comprehend invasive ideas. So being able to read body language really is a sign of being intelligent. If environmental conditions (for whatever reason) prohibited people from speaking face to face and we were only allowed to speak via telephone or email, then we'd have no benefit for being able to read body language. Body language is only effective to the interpreter when he/she is within visibility of the communicator.
In the first part of the experiment, I felt like I was playing a game like charades. I love how you pointed out that the people you were talking to needed background information about the way you communicated. In my experiment, they had that information so it wasn't a challenge for me. I see things like that happen all the time; when people have a hard time communicating, others lower the level of the conversation. My sociology teacher once told me that when she had a woman in her class who barely spoke english, she found herself speaking louder and slower hoping the woman understand. She said she finally realized that the pace and volume of her language were not the problem. I definitely agree that the culture using both languages would be more successful at sharing ideas and I love your example of adults and babies, spot on!
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the second experiment pushing us out of our comfort zones,but the way you explained it, it completely makes sense. Using body language and facial expressions and gestures help us communicate little things that the other person would not know if we didn't use them. I like your example of the other person not being visible, where reading body language serves no purpose because I couldn't think of one.
I too found both parts of this experiment difficult. I also agree with you that the culture who was able to use language would have the advantage between the two. Good job using babies as an example of an individual who has difficulty communicating, they are probably the perfect example and the most important because effective communication is imperative to their learning. You mentioned part two made you feel like an alien, it made me feel like a robot. Just for the record, autistic people can't read body language, but they can be very intelligent in some ways. Being able to read body language is almost like having a super power would you agree? What if we did have the capability to read each other's minds, do you think that would be a good or bad thing?
ReplyDeletei found your post to be extremely informative and interesting the way you described part two caught my attention. the way you felt like an alien i felt like a robot it was weird i felt somehow programmed and completely awkward to not have a form of expression even though we were able to speak. It seems that hand gestures and body language have a greater impact than originally believed.
ReplyDeleteGreat job
Good description of your experiments and I appreciate how you clearly equated the situation to a parent and a baby learning how to communicate. One thing to recognize is that this is a very common comparison and I think it may cause us problems in our dealings with people in society that communicate differently from us. If a person, such as a person who is deaf or is a non-English speaker, tries to communicate with a native English speaker, I think we tend to treat those people like children, speaking louder and more slowly and more simply. This may be a very natural response, but it can be denigrating to thoughtful, intelligent, full-grown adults whose only deficiency is the ability to speak English.
ReplyDeleteWhile you were thorough about your personal experiences in part 2, missing was the description of your partner's experience, which is usually the most interesting part of the experiment? How did they respond to this? What was their reaction to the lack of body language? Often partners respond very strongly to this and are confused by it as we don't realize how much we rely upon body language for supporting and validating information in our conversations. When it goes missing, it is disturbing and yet we often don't understand what precisely we are missing.
Unfortunately, it is becoming a bit more common to find people who can't read body language since the diagnosis of autism is increasing. Individuals in the autism spectrum cannot read body language. They can't understand sarcasm or figure out jokes since they only process verbal (or written) language.
Well, when we text, we are essentially in the situation you describe at the end of the post and yet problems arise due to the lack of body language, correct? Miscommunication, misinterpretation of meaning and emotion? So we are adding emoticons to take the place of our body language to help avoid these problems. But that isn't a situation where we shouldn't read body language, only a place where body language is difficult to discern. Are there any circumstances where body language might mislead you? Can it be misinterpreted? Do all cultures use the same system of body language?