Part 1:
For the first part of this experiment, I found it extremely difficult not to speak. I use my hands all the time when I talk so that was easy for me. My partner and my 7 years old daughter had a very hard time understanding me. I almost felt like I was playing a game of charades. It was frustrating, because I couldn't explain my thoughts using only my hands, body language and face expressions. My daughter tried to figure it out what I tried to say, and "translate" it, but after couple of minutes she started to give up and she got annoyed with the fact that I could not speak. My partner and especially my daughter are the types who like things verbalized and explained to them and I was unable to speak, so it became frustrating for them too.
Part 2:
For the second half of this experiment, I had a hard time not using my hands. This experiment was harder than I thought. I had to start over two times, because I forget not to use any non-verbal language. Normally I use hand gestures almost every time I speak. Through this experiment I just realized how often I use and rely on symbolic language. I ended up having to sit on top of my hands and not moving. My daughter enjoyed more the conversation with me, because I could speak, but at the end she thought that this "game" was to boring. The most difficult part of this experiment was that I actually had to concentrate on not moving my head or giving attitude with my body language or using my hands. I felt almost trapped not being able to use any type of symbolic language.
I think that the use of "signs" in conversations is very important. They can add meaning to verbal language. The symbolic language or non-speaking language can be very effective in communication because it gets the points more than just verbal speaking.
Some people have difficulty to read body language. I used to have a friend who didn't get my messages through my body expressions and he asked me all the times about the meanings of them. I think if you can understand and speak others language and you are also able to read their body language then you have quite a bit of an edge over others. Being able to read body language helps to know how to take a comment or a conversation and to know what people are actually meaning and not insinuating what someone means. I think that the type of environment where the body language is not so important is in the conversations when we can not see each other (talking on the phone, being in dark or in different rooms...)
You and I seem to of had similar results from the experiment. In part one, I also related it to charades. It turned out to be more of a guessing game when my partner was attempting to figure out what I was trying to say. I also noticed that the frustration began to grow as the time went on, and my partner eventually stopped trying as hard. In part two, I struggled more than my partner did. I was so use to using non-verbal language that I kept forgetting that I wasn't suppose to. This is a great example about how important the body language is in communication. It sets the emotion and tone to the statements.
ReplyDeleteI did like your post because you sound like you used two different subject which I think gave a good insight on the different perspectives. You said your 7 year old got "bored" with the conversation. This shows how generation/age is a factor in these as well because I feel if you had a subject who was older and had more patience than a 7 year old, you might have been able to relay the message better.
I don't think we realize how much we are dependent upon body language until we try not to use it. Imagine how hard it must be for those who can't read body language (like those with Asperger's) to live in a world were so much of our language is body language.
ReplyDeleteGood post.