Part 1 was pretty tough because I could not describe anything. I can only direct my friend towards an object or illustrate an emotion or happening with bold body language. My friend talked to me like I was a child who didn't have good speaking skills. Almost like playing charades, he had to decipher what I was explaining then build from that. If these were cultures meeting for the first time, the speaking culture would have a much better opportunity to convey complex ideas. Just like my instance, they would talk to the other culture with an ill-competent demeanor; and until they understood their specific language would they both be able to share complex ideas. Stephen Hawking is a prime example. Although people already understand he is a genius, we still have to decipher what he is saying through written text - which takes a lot longer than speaking.
Part 2 was also difficult because it was hard to not move at all while speaking. Although, it was a bit easier than part one, because I can actually clarify what I'm trying to express. It was not as fun though because I could only sit there with a stoic face, it got a little boring for the both of us after 15 minutes. Being able to demonstrate while analyzing is critical, otherwise it would be strenuous to communicate freely. An environmental condition where it is very important to sense body language is when an animal is being intimidating and wants to be aggressive - it is that time to back away and sense the danger. Considering the benefits of not being able to read body language, I don't think there are any. It is extremely valuable to have.
It would have been a lot easier to use written language. It is the same as speaking, but it takes longer (as I said with Hawking). A culture can become very rich in ideas with a solid and developed language. Most of the time only the huge and ground-breaking ideas come through writings and books, rather than speech; and being able to share these ideas are a lot more effective than spoken word, since they can be shipped and travel a lot quicker than a person.
I really appreciated your comment on Stephen Hawking. He challenges all of our preconceptions on intelligence by making us realize that you don't have to be able to easily express your intelligence to BE intelligent. Great example.
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any group of people who are unable to read body language? And what about a situation where you don't understand the body language, like another culture? Wouldn't it be an advantage to ignore it to avoid misunderstanding?
Good final discussion. Nice job.