This was very difficult not to talk at all. I even had to catch myself a few times from making sound effects to try to display my thoughts. It almost became like a guessing game of charades if she asked a question with two answers I would have to try to indicate which answer was better though hand gestures.
The conversation became more them talking to me, than with me. They could get simple yes/no answers, a few eye rolls, and the occasional eyebrow raised but that was it. It became more just talking and not expecting an answer.
The speaking culture had the advantage, say the speaking culture wants to go to war with a country they just say “lets go to war”, but for the non symbolic speaking culture it would be much more difficult to explain “lets go to war”. I feel as though the speaking culture would have an attitude of maybe superiority over the other since it is easier for them to communicate. Individuals that have difficulty with spoken language would be children, foreigners and handicapped individuals. The way people who can speak, who interact with them is they tend to slow down their words, often times it leads to frustration.Part 2
I managed to almost last the whole time the part I had a problem with was moving my head and eyebrows. What made it so difficult was the inability to move and express with my body. I’m very much a person that conveys a lot of emotion in my face and my body gesture.
In the conversation it was very hard for them to judge what kind of attitude I had, since it was so emotionless it was hard for them to gauge my reactions to specific statements. I had to say a lot more since my face and hands were not saying it for me.
Non-speech language is very important in our communication skills, it cuts down the time we need to speak. If I can raise an eyebrow inquisitively it conveys “why” without me having to say it.
Yes there are people who have difficulty reading body language, they tend to be the people that takes things way too far from appropriate and make everyone uncomfortable. Like I said the advantage would be knowing people’s boundaries, and being able to have social skills. Situations where it would be useful for someone else to not be able to read my body language is when you are angry at someone but you don’t want to hurt them or their feelings. It’s a hard thing to think of a benefit to not reading body language because there are so few, it’s so important to know body language. Part 3
Yes, it would have helped because then we could have had a real conversation as
opposed to really just me listening to a conversation and agreeing and disagreeing with comments. I would have been able to answer questions and feel a part of the conversation.It gives the culture the ability to keep records and stories. It also gives them the ability to communicate to others without having to speak or see each other. It also allows for the ability of signs, imagine how hard it would be to drive somewhere without all the road signs we have, I for one know I would get lost all the time.
Written language for one allowed for the spread of religions, without the ability to write and translate those words it would have been so much harder to spread the religion. Writing also spreads ideas of progressions and even technology. Written language plays a large role in globalization.
You had a really good post, I couldn't agree anymore with, when you are talking about a one tone no facial emotions, its so hard, not make any symbolic languages or changing your voice with different tones, but to try and understand if someone is mad, sad, or even angry. Our expressions are very important in our life and exceptionally our social life. What if we have never had tones in our voice just one modern tone, no movement but that’s what we grew up with, would we think the same thing now, what do you think?
ReplyDeleteThere was something I was thinking about for the Part 3 that I want to add but since I already have a comment I'll just add a comment as well. While at my job I once had to help someone who was deaf, since I didn't know sign language we had to write each other. It was a conversation just like I would have with someone who speaks because we could look at each other and nod and we could both clearly read body language, so even though it was purely writing and symbolic conversation it was a language we both understood and it was easy. Just wanted to add this antidote because it really would have helped if I could have written, I could have written half sentences and it still would have made sense with my facial and hand gestures.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great sentence: "I had to say a lot more since my face and hands were not saying it for me."
ReplyDeleteExactly. When we talk normally, we are saying twice as much than we think as we are also communicating with our bodies. Without body language, we have to make up for it with more words.
Well done all the way through and interesting to read. Nice job! Thanks for the additional information added in your comment as well. Good observation.
" I had to say a lot more since my face and hands were not saying it for me." That is exactly how I felt as I was trying not to use my hands to say something or as I was trying not to raise my eyebrows at something that was shocking. Just like you, I am a person who uses a lot of body movement in my language. One question though, did your partner know you were conducting the experiment? And do you think that has any effect on how things would have turned out otherwise? I liked how you used the spread of religion as an example of the importance of written language. I agree with you completely, the spread of religion and other ideas would be almost impossible in this generation where everything is web-based.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out the difference between having a real conversation as opposed to agreeing and disagreeing with comments, because to me that really isn't a thorough conversation at all and most of this experiment for me wasn't much of a thorough conversation. And I loved how you said that written language is very important for globalization, I sort of said that but in different wording, so great job on that!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and liked how you told us that "The conversation became more them talking to me, than with me." When we cannot communicate with words in a conversation, it seems that it is harder for someone to have a conversation with us and that is why this happened to you. Its almost as if people we are communicating with talk to us like we are children at the point where we cannot talk and say the things we want and need. I also agree that the second part of the experiment was a lot harder than the first. I use my body a lot when communicating and it was very difficult not to. I also thought you brought up a good point when discussing written communication. You said,
ReplyDelete"It gives the culture the ability to keep records and stories. It also gives them the ability to communicate to others without having to speak or see each other." That is very important, we would never have learned about life in the 1800s if written language wasnt around. Overall great job on your post.
I definitely agree with the line you stated about how, "...people who have difficulty reading body language... tend to be the people [who take] things way too far". That may not be the only reason why some people take things too far (some people just don't care about what other people think of them, for example). However, it seems like that part of the post provided a lot of insight.
ReplyDelete