Language is important to knowledge. When a group of people all speak the same language, it is easy for them to understand each other and gain knowledge. However when you are for example a foreigner in a country where you understand none of the language, you are not going to gain any knowledge from the people. This is when body language becomes important. From personal experience, when I first got to Poland I could speak NO polish. Charades and pointing became my way of communication and in essence, my language. This "language" was what helped me to gain knowledge and eventually be able to speak polish. Therefore I believe that body language is what is really important to language. Even as a child, you speak with body language far before you learn to speak an language. As a baby your parents understand your body language to know your needs. Body language is more important than the actual language involving words. Actions speak louder than words. Observe the picture above. There are no words in this picture. However we can tell the the man is pointing at something. The look on his face is not a questioning look. Therefore he does not want to know what it is that he is looking at. His expression is one of excitement and joy. He is obviously enthused by what he is pointing at. (PS its the Pantheon.)Now the young gentleman in the background has obviously spotted something that concerns him. He is talking to someone as his face discerns. However the look of eyes suggests that he is not particularly enjoy this conversation. See? You know all this just from body language.
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I absolutely, one hundred percent, agree with your idea of body language. Take, for example, animals, and to get even more specific, wolves. I've read many books concerning the study of wild wolves. Plus there's that one movie that consists of about 5 mins total of talking, where the little girl joins a wolf pack in order to survive in Alaska or something. Every small tilt of the head, angle of the tail and position of the ears is a 1-3-3-1 essay that all the wolves understand.
ReplyDeleteI think as humans we're just too busy and self-centered to really stop and take the time to look at people to discern their feelings. Most of the time. To be faster and more efficient we use speech to get our point across. I think that it eliminates most of the intimacy/connection you have with the person because it shows you don't care enough to take the time to just sit and see what conversation their body is showing. Maybe this impersonality between everyone is a factor in what is driving society into depression, addictions and health-issues? Oh ho ho.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Thanks for your awesome analyzement of that photo Hayley.
I think there is a difference between the body language of the two young men in the picture - intentionality. The person in the foreground who is pointing intends to draw our attention to something. Perhaps he has even deliberately chosen his facial expression with the intent of expressing his feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe person in the background does not, it seems, intend to convey any meaning by his expression. There is some indication what he is thinking about or feeling but I don't know if he intends to convey that meaning. Do you think that the intent to communicate is a part necessary component of language?
I agree that body language is a form of language, however I believe that it can be very easily misinterpretted. For example, in America to show the number 3 with the fingers, they normally use the index, middle, and ring finger. In other countries though, the thumb, index, and middle finger and more commonly used. As Mrs. Gabert once told me, a man from America, during a war, was in Germany(I think) and used the American fingers to display the number 3 at a bar, and was quickly recognized as a foreigner. Therefore body language differs from place to place and can easily be taken the wrong way. In certain situations, body language is important such as for people who cannot hear or speak. However, to be more clear, people generally use words to clarify their thoughts. That's not to say, though, that words cannot be misunderstood as well, because they can also be easily misunderstood. If words and body language are so confusing, maybe we should just hook up machines to ourselves that can read our thoughts and portray them in video!:)
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