Part 1
Not talking is difficult. The first 5 minutes of the full 15 were the hardest though because my partner and I tried to carry a full two person conversation. But it was very difficult because I couldn’t hold up my side of the conversation so I became frustrated. Eventually we both adjusted and my partner took over the talking part and I simply responded with movements. It was funny because as I started using more hand movements my partner did also. I also found exaggerated movements were better to use while I couldn’t talk because they could express more than the basic answers.
For this experiment my partner definitely had the advantage because he was able to express precisely what he meant without m having to guess the meaning. He had to always follow up questions to fully understand my responses to him. Talking definitely helps in communicating ideas faster. Speaking cultures might think those that can’t have a problem or something is wrong. I could sense this when my partner tried to accommodate me but failed to hide his impatience at times.
Part 2
No I was not able to last the full 15 minutes because physical embellishments come so natural that it’s hard to stop. The conversation was difficult to follow for my partner because he couldn’t interpret what I was really saying with my words. He was mostly confused with my jokes and phrases that had double meanings because he couldn’t read my face, tone of voice, and body language. This experiment tells me that communication is an art of both speech and body. To fully understand what another is saying listeners take cues from body language to interpret words and how to take it. People who understand body language can better understand situations and people’s moods if they heed body language. A benefit to not reading body language is that we are able to keep thoughts to ourselves better. We can lie or pretend but because of body language these things can be found out. For instance they say arched eyebrows and dilated pupils means that a person was surprised and this can come in handy when you are trying to find a lie in a person’s story.
Part 3
The written language would have been easier in part 1 because I could get specific and complex ideas out but doing so would have delayed response time and taken away my focus on the speaker. The written language though it could cost me time in real time conversation, it does have its advantages in preserving conversations and history. People don’t have perfect memory so the use of written language helps to remember the past and even to promote it by spreading it around. Now that the written language is more easily accessible communication and sharing is made easier.
I pretty much agree/wrote the same about my language experiment. Overall, not being able to read body language is a bad thing but it does have some benefits. Like you mentioned, it could help us lie more efficiently. I really liked what you said about the benefit of written language. It would be impossible to have as much information available as we do now if we didn't have a written language. I wonder if there's any culture that doesn't have a written language.
ReplyDeleteOverall, good post. There were just a couple of points I want to highlight in the second part. You talk about the advantage of hiding your thoughts, but this is the advantage of withholding your own body language, not of not reading others. Can you think of any situations where it might benefit you to NOT be able read other people's body language?
ReplyDeleteAlso, can you think of any group of people who tend to have difficulty reading body language? A couple come to mind.
Otherwise, good description and your final summary was well done.
I think it is interesting that without language (especially written language) this entire online class would not be possible. You did a good job talking about the specific difficulties each of these situations presented. Two cultures meeting one another for the first time might have a very hard time understanding one another. Good post.
ReplyDelete