Wikihow on body language
In a recent
post I hinted about a future post on body language, not to be
confused with bawdy language. For the latter, you can read posts by Mark
and Arnold.
Wikihow has two links on body language, one about how to read it and
another about how to understand it. I'm not sure what the alleged
difference
is, because last I heard, reading and understanding seem to have a lot
in
common.
From the Bureau of Apparently Unresearched Information at
Wikihow's How
to read body
language, we find the following curious statements about
this topic. This piece looks like an example of what Mark called "wisdom
vs. ignorance in networked crowds." Warning: the comments in
parentheses are mine ... and I promise to say nothing about
"someone" taking a plural pronoun.
"The closer that someone is to you, the warmer his or her
opinions are of you." (Is this why Mediterraneans are thought to be
better lovers? Should we avoid talking on the telephone? Where does bad
breath come in?)
"Overly tilted heads are a potential sign of sympathy." (Unless
there are other reasons for "over-tilting," such as a bad case of
strabismus or simply being perplexed. And just how overly is "overly?")
"Lowered heads indicate a reason to hide something." (Some of the
time, maybe, but how about when you're tired or when you're tring to
remember something?)
"Look into their eyes ... you can actually learn ... how to
observe behavior to judge whether someone is lying ... it's easy to
spot a confident person, they will make prolonged eye contact." (Oh no,
not that old eye aversion thing again!)
"People who look away ... are thinking about something else."
(But have you ever noticed how some males tend to talk to each other
while standing side-by-side rather than face-to-face?)
"If someone mirrors or mimics your appearance, this is a very
genuine sign that they are interested in you." (Well, unless they're
making fun of you, of course.)
"People with crossed arms are closing themselves to social
influence." (Except when it's habitual, or when they're shy and
reserved, or when they have a soup stain on their shirt.)
"If someone rests their arms behind their neck, they are open to
what is being discussed and are interested in listening more." (But how
can we be sure that they're not just stretching?)
"If someone brushes their hair back ... their thoughts are about
something conflicting with yours." (So always keep your hair
combed neately, or use lots of hair spray, or wear a head-band, or
shave your head entirely.)
"If someone is biting their lip, they are anticipating
something." (Or they're nervous, or they have a suddently itchy lip.
And what about prominent overbites?)
"A confident person ... will have a strong posture." (Among other
things maybe, but what about all those confident slouchers
out there?)
"If people laugh excessively, they are just trying to wheedle
their way into your good graces." ( Avoid excessive pleasantness, keep
the conversation serious, and don't tell jokes.)
Wikihow adds few disclaimers at the end:
- "Unfortunately, there are always exceptions." (Lots of them, I'd
guess.)
- "There are wide cultural differences." (You got that right.)
- "Don't isolate yourself by constantly examining body language."
(Ignore this list?)
As Mark points out, "the key problem is that no single source ever
gives us 'all the information,' much less all the interpretation," and
even Wikihow seems to acknowledge this. We have to wonder though whether it's
worthwhile to give readers only part of the information, along with
some misleading interpretations. There is a growing research
literature on non-verbal communication that Wikihow doesn't seem to
take note of. And it's not that hard to find. For example, anyone can
go
to Google, type in "Paul Ekman," and find a bunch of recent
research reports written by him and his associates.
Posted by Roger Shuy at August 6, 2007 08:48 AM