I found this experiment to be fun albeit, slightly difficult! It was like playing a game of charades! When my partner realized I couldn’t use any kind of language, they started picking up on similarities in my movements to things. They would then “oh! Is that a rabbit? Ok the rabbit jumped overrr…. What?” Things of that nature. Charades is the best thing I can think of to describe it!
I think the speaking culture would obviously have the upper hand. They would probably find the gesturing culture to be primitive and may wonder why they don’t just talk. In our culture, obviously a speaking one, people who cannot speak are usually looked down upon. Autistic people and other handicaps that prevent them from living their lives as normal humans do are spoken to like children. They constantly require aid and do not understand thing as quickly as we might. This may be a necessity but it does seem demeaning.
In the second part of the experiment, would could not use language embellishments. I felt like a robot! “Hi. My. Name. Is. Kendell.” Blah blah blah, IT WOULD SUCK TO TALK LIKE THAT AL THE TIME! It was extremely difficult. Actually, I found it to be hard than the first conversation. I had to sit on my hands to not use them. Laughing fits littered the experiment because we sounded so odd! Honestly I don’t think we even lasted a who;e 15 minutes! We don’t realize how much we use octaves in our voice and our hands to emphasize points until our ability to utilize them are stripped. I don’t know about everyone else’s heads but even when I type I hear the words I am typing playing out and that, subconscious voice, uses embellishments too.
If you can read body language it helps you but it is not necessary. Honestly, we use our hands a lot and fidget with things our transfer weight on our feet but these things don’t really help people to understand what we are saying. All is does is help us to get out the words we are trying to say smoothly in a flowing manner. When hand motions were banned I found that my speech was quite choppy. I had to fish for the words I wanted instead of just speaking flowingly.
An environment where it may be a good thing to not read body language… It is hard to pick one because only the practiced actually read what people say with their bodies. The first thing that popped into my head is a Junior High School hallway during a passing period. It has been a looooong time since I was in Jr. High but I remember kids all over each other and every kid dressed alike. There was no individuality, no variation amongst them. It is a time when kids don’t really know who they are yet so they experiment or copy others to fit in. Also, kids are just starting to notice that boys are kinda cute or vice versa. The body language here is probably best left unread!
It was funny to read your response to this blog assignment...I too had to sit on my hands to stop myself from using them and then I found that made me concentrate on my body more than my dialect and I would lose train of thought. It was actually kind of funny.
ReplyDeleteI agree with autism...I have a nephew who is autistic and I didnt think of him when I was relating to whom would have difficulty but I can see how that would hinder ones ability to communicate efficently in this world. I also commented on the ones who were able to communicate had the "upper hand", per se...I also agreed that being "verbally challenged" did make me feel inferior....good post and relating what we learned to the world!
Kendell, you brought a good point regarding the use of body language. Some times the body language we use such as: switching feet, twirling our hair or scratching our arm does not necessarily mean what we are feeling. These actions might help some get the words out while for others it keeps them calm. I know while in a recent job interview I realized I was scratching my arm every few minutes. I wasn't that nervous but it was an impulse, almost like I couldn't keep still. If I was on the other side of the desk I would have thought, this girl looks nervous. Luckily this person didn't listen to my body language and listened to my words instead.
ReplyDeleteGood post. While I agree that body language is not entirely necessary for communication, if you had a population who didn't use body language and one that did, which population do you think would be more successful? It might have made a difference.
ReplyDeleteVery entertaining read! Although I found the first part of the experiment more difficult than the other, I still had a very similar experience. I felt like talking in such a monotone manner with no movement was next to impossible, and indeed quite hilarious. Interesting point you brought up about Jr. High. I can definitely see a lack of body language there might help.
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