PART 1
After communicating with my partner without speaking for fifteen minutes, I found the experiment to be very difficult. It was frustrating to not be able to communicate using my words and only hand gestures and body movements. I am a person who speaks softly and is often shy, therefore using my hands and body gestures to communicate was very new and foreign to me. My partner had a very difficult time trying to understand me as well. The impressions my partner gave me throughout the conversation were of frustration and lack of understanding. He had to alter the way he communicated to me by asking many more questions, using his hand gestures to try and understand mine, and changing his facial features constantly. It seemed as though he was trying to get something out of me to understand me better. If we were two cultures that were trying to communicate, I think the culture with the ability to speak would have the better advantage in being able to express complex ideas because of the easiness of establishing basic ideas. It would be much easier to use our words to convey more in depth ideas. The culture that speaks might view the culture with symbolic language as less intelligent. This may be because the culture who speaks can use many words to describe details, places, ideas, states of being, formulas, and so forth as opposed to the culture with symbolic language which can reach a limit of communication. Individuals who have a difficult time communicating spoken language can include the deaf and very young children, especially babies. Interacting with these individuals can be very difficult because they cannot understand what you say to them. Deaf humans have to rely on sign language and reading lip movements which can be very difficult to pick up. To communicate, one must also be able to learn sign language and be able to read their facial and hand gestures too, which can be very hard. Children and babies have not learned to speak fully yet so it makes it very hard for them and the adult to communicate with each other as well.
PART 2
This experiment came to a very huge surprise to me. As an introvert, I usually thought of myself as someone who does not use hand gestures or body gestures to communicate with others. I usually thought of myself to be very easygoing in that sense. After communicating with my partner using only words and nothing else, I found it to be surprisingly uncomfortable. At first, I realized that my voice had many tones when I spoke. I also realized that my facial features are a very big part of me when I talk. I was not able to add any emphasis to my voice, therefore I sounded very monotone and boring. I had to also be very aware of my body. I realized I did many things unnoticeably and involuntarily. Lasting for an entire fifteen minutes was no easy task. It felt like time went by so much slower than usual. My partner was growing very bored of my monotonous speaking and was losing interest quickly. The fact that he used gestures and facial gestures to respond to my questions made me want to use my hands and body even more. It made me feel very agitated at one point. This experiment made me realize the extreme importance of using signs and symbolic gestures in order to communicate. Without them, our individual expressions would cease to exist. It makes things like panic, happiness, and anger seem much more emphasized, which can be needed in certain situations. It makes it easier to understand one another as well through clarity and human connection. There are definitely some people who have a hard time reading body language. These people can include the blind, young children, and even older adults who may have been out of touch with today’s body language movements. The adaptive benefit to body language is that it makes it easier for humans to pick up cues that make it easier to understand what they are trying to communicate. It also creates a bond between humans, especially long time friends and family. An environmental condition where it would not be beneficial to read body language would probably not exist. Even the most simple things I can think of like sitting and listening to a lecture, getting ready to sleep and talking to your partner would all have some sort of importance on body language to signal the other individual.
PART 3
I think if I was able to use written language during part one of the experiment I would have had a much easier time. Spoken and written language, I believe, is much more powerful than symbolic language. Written language would convey the same type of importance and understanding as spoken language. The only problem I see would be if the person did not know how to read, or if the person reading would not get a sense of character through written words. There are so many important advantages to using written language in one’s culture. One advantage that written language can have on our culture is to document history. This allows us to record past events and gain knowledge about the past. Written language allows us to set rules and regulations, to remind us of the things we would have forgotten if our memory failed us. It is very important to use written language. Written language has allowed the flow of ideas and communication to be spread out throughout the world. Many ideas came from written books, mathematics, and religion that have all been written down and recorded. This is by far one of human civilizations greatest achievements.
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ReplyDeleteGood discussion of your part 1 experiment. Good description and exploration of the questions.
ReplyDeleteGood opening description of your Part 2 experiment.
The benefit of body language goes far beyond just expression. Body language is also used by humans as a lie detector. If someone tells you something but their body language tells you something different, which do you believe, the words or the body language? We tend to not believe a person when their body belies their words, and think about how this helps people when interacting with others. This would help you figure out who to trust, who to work with, and who to avoid, very important pieces of information when living among others.
Yes, I agree that those who are blind cannot visually see body language, though they can read vocal intonation (a point you raised earlier in your description). I can see your point on older individuals (and this actually applies later in this section... I'll refer to it later). Young children are actually very good at reading body language. It is the first language they learn and often they read it better than adults who place greater weight on words.
"An environmental condition where it would not be beneficial to read body language would probably not exist."
Actually, you give an example of one. You mention older people having difficulty reading body language. That is in part because body language had a cultural influence and can differ across cultures and within subcultures. So if you encounter a group of people who use a system of body language different from yours, it may be better to ignore that body language until you learn it to avoid misunderstanding. A more common example of this is visiting another country. The body language there might "lie" to you because you don't understand it. Better not to read it until you become familiar with it.
"Spoken and written language, I believe, is much more powerful than symbolic language."
Spoken and written language IS symbolic language. You are confusing it with "sign" (not ASL) or body language.
"One advantage that written language can have on our culture is to document history."
Great point. This goes to history itself, but also to the application of science, communication and dissemination of scientific ideas globally, sharing and building upon gained information. Keeping records and validating facts and information through those records is a powerful ability. Just think about how difficult it would have been for our population to not advance without the long-term benefits of written language.