Language Blog

Part 1

• For the Thanksgiving holiday weekend I spent a few days up in Mammoth with some friends. On the morning of our first full day someone asked what we wanted to do so I took the opportunity to try out the first experiment, which I had already discussed with everyone during the drive up the previous day. Naturally I wanted to go on a mountain bike ride so I started to pretend like I was riding a bike through the condo. I was running around the living room and kitchen, making ringing sounds like a bell attached to the handlebars, 'riding' up on the couch and then jumping off while kicking my legs out slightly trying to mimic going off a small jump. Anything I could do to make it seem like I was riding a bike, which I thought I was doing a good job at. That is until my friends started to try and guess what I was suggesting. The entire time they were guessing activities that weren't even close such as snowboarding, taking dance lessons, or one friend even suggested that I was driving myself to the loony bin. Some of them even started to try and mimic my actions however would change it up slightly, kicking their legs farther out while jumping off the couch and asking me if it was more like or if I was kicking my legs out the other direction. Their communication method did slightly change as they were trying to recreate my actions instead of simply talking about it as we normally would. They also seized the opportunity to try and mess with me a bit more knowing that I couldn't talk, they expressed that by suggesting off the wall ideas that were nowhere close to riding a bike and then asking me to show them the entire thing again after I would shake my head no.
• My friends were definitely in control of the conversation. It didn't take them long to realize that because I could not talk they were able to direct my physical actions as that was the only method of communication I could use. Sadly the topic never changed as everyone else was having entirely too much fun getting me to repeat the example numerous times or trying to recreate it themselves in more creative ways. My friends clearly had the power in this conversation as they quickly realized. By my inability to not communicate verbally with them they perceived that as an opportunity to control me and get me to do what they wanted for their own amusement.
• I think in modern times people who are able to verbally communicate with each other definitely has the advantage over someone who cannot. Spoken word can be very powerful as different people can interpret the physical actions of another in different ways, making communication extremely difficult. The ability to speak with one another cuts down on confusion and gets the point across quickly and directly, not to mention allows for communication back and forth to clarify the topic and work out any potential issues there may be. I cant speak towards two different cultures that have this issues however it is ever so prevalent in say the communication between humans and dogs. Humans are able to teach dogs to do basic tricks and behaviors albeit it can take quite a long time and numerous displays of the action by the human before the dog is able to pick it up, and even then the dog does not replicate the actions exactly as shown. Imagine if dogs were able to effectively communicate with humans, training them would no longer be a chore as they would be able to quickly understand what we were trying to tell them.

Part 2

• In the evening of our last full day in Mammoth I asked everyone what they wanted to have for dinner on our last night in town. I was sitting on the couch looking out the window when I asked the question, and throughout the entire conversation I did not move any part of my body and did my best not to show any emotion or change the intonation in my voice. At first my friends started to go back and forth with me on different placed to eat however quickly realized I was not acting like myself. They immediately started to ask what was wrong. They wanted to know why I brought up the topic when I didn't seem to show any interest in going out nor did any of their suggestions sound good to me. I would keep telling them that yes, that restaurant does sound good and that I would love to go there however they would not believe me as there was no change in the pitch of my voice.
• Body language plays a huge role in our ability to effectively communicate, especially if you change the way your body reacts from your normal, it can throw people off and make them think you are not being genuine in your responses. A person is able to pick up on how a person if feeling going into a conversation and how you feel during the course of it as well. When I get excited about something I tend to smile a bit more, the pitch of my voice and rate in which I talk increases and I also tend to use more hand gestures as well. If someone you are talking to shows no physical reaction or has no change in their voice it is extremely difficult to deduce how they feel about the conversation.
• Body language is just as essential as the ability to speak. You can tell when someone walks up to you or is talking to you on if they are upset or not. If someone has a deep scowl on their face and walking up with their fists clenched you know it is time to run away. When talking to a member of the opposite sex their body language can tell you if they are interested in you and the conversation or not. If they turn to you, look you in the eye, and engage in the conversation you have a much higher chance to continue the relationship rather than if they didn't look at you and kept their responses short.
• People definitely have trouble reading other peoples body language. Not only do some people just not posses a strong ability to do so there are people who are very skilled in using body language to confuse the other individual or individuals. If you are talking to someone about how your favorite sports team won the night before and there is no change in the intonation of their voice, they don't engage you or response to the topic, or they give short answers most people would take that as a hint that they are not interested in the topic. You do however have the people who are not good at reading those signs and will continue to talk on about their team. Then you have the other side of the spectrum where there are people who are skilled at using body language to fool another person. They could be trying to extract information out of your about another friend to use in a negative manner, however to conceal that fact they will be open and comforting in their interaction with you. They might put their hand on your shoulder or around your back, talk softly and reassuring in an attempt to get you to trust them and open up.