Are human emotions really universal?

Dongria tribal girl
(Odisha, India)

The English word 'emotion' was adapted from the French word 'émouvoir' (pronounced as 'é-mou-vwa(r)'), back in 1579. The literal meaning of the original French word is "to stir up" or "to move". Emotions have a great power to stir us or move us inside out instantly. Having different emotions is a universal or the single-most common human quality. Expressions of some emotions do magically bridge the huge gaps, cross the international boundaries and bring millions of people together. Hence, we believe that everybody in this world has the exact same emotions as ours. Don't we? Almost everybody does, until an unexpected truth is told.

A few days ago, I watched a presentation on Big Think about human emotions. Among several insights shared by the presenting researcher, three were utterly shocking - 1) (All) Emotions aren't universal i. e. they aren't common across cultures. 2) Facial expressions of emotions aren't universal i. e. they aren't common across cultures. 3) There are no synonymous words for some emotions in the vocabularies of some languages e. g. 'fear'. Indeed, these are entirely upsetting or shocking facts for almost everybody of us who ardently believe in universality, enough to change facial expressions for a long time.

Dr. Paul Ekman (American psychologist) established universality of six basic emotional expressions through his observations with different groups of people, including members of Fore tribe located deep inside the forest of Papua New Guinea. After the same, training programs and tools have been developed on the basis of the same. Especially, those who have built their whole careers, courses, software applications and/or smartphone apps around it would find them very upsetting. Much to their surprise, Dr. Ekman himself agreed about cultural-specific emotions.

Dr. Paul Ekman walking along with
smiling tribal children (1967 - 1968)

These three facts totally disturb what has been taught over the last few decades to millions of people, including law enforcement, intelligence and security professionals around the world. While mentally adjusting with these scientifically proven facts, we need to investigate this deeply 'emotional' subject seriously. Are billions of people really divided into many groups that do experience emotions differently from each other? Or Is it only about the differences in labeling or describing emotions? Or Is it only a translation issue?

After watching the presentation, I started to think really harder over a few days about the three facts. Through this short article, I'm trying to share with you what I've come up with after brainstorming. Especially, if you're a researcher (independent or academic) then I'd kindly suggest to consider the key inputs while conducting further research about this most critical yet complicated subject having global consequences.

Currently, a massive amount of facial data might be getting fed to many Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems for enabling them to recognize different emotions by reading facial expressions. If the same data has been selected by, for and of the members of a specific culture then Emotional AI (EAI) systems might misread the emotions of the members of other cultures by facial expressions. Isn't it totally wrong?

If you could just try to imagine this techno-tragic outcome personally affecting you in the near future then you'd realize exactly how serious are the implications of the belief in 'universality of human emotions (and their facial expressions)'. Actually, the dark rabbit hole goes much farther and deeper inside the ground. Perhaps, only neuroscientists might understand what I'm trying to say.

Facial Expressions of six basic emotions
identified by Dr. Paul Ekman

While trying to swallow the three utterly bitter facts very slowly and painfully, we simply can't deny the following possibilities (or realities?):

1) Some commonly shared experiences or inherited memories of some groups or communities have conditioned their members to experience some emotions more profoundly and frequently, in comparison to other emotions.

2) The neural connections and activation inside brains are slightly different in the people following different cultures, who don't experience, express and/or label the exact same emotional experiences.

3) Members of two entirely different types of cultures (e. g. collectivist vs. individualist) don't share the exact same reasons to invoke the exact same emotion e. g. anger (fight).

4) Some physical environments don't leave any reason to invoke some emotions in those who commonly share them e. g. an abundance doesn't lead to greed, envy or jealousy.

5) Some cultures have gradually succeeded in converting some emotional experiences into nonverbal expressions that don't involve facial muscle movements.

6) Some cultures systematically do encourage or educate their members to express some emotions through facial muscle movements, right from early childhood.

7) Some cultures systematically do train their members to completely suppress the nonverbal expressions of some emotions, right from early childhood.

8) Different cultural groups of people do use slightly different facial expressions to convey the exact same emotion e. g. happiness.

9) Some cultures systematically train their members to express some emotions in certain ways, right from early childhood.

For the languages that don't have the words synonymous to 'fear' in their vocabularies, a further investigation is required to prove or confirm if speakers of those languages really don't at all withdraw themselves nonverbally in the presence of a genuinely fearful stimulus e. g. a male tribal hunter accidentally confronting a tiger, a lion or a leopard in the close proximity while hunting wild animals for food.

Also, there's a great possibility that speakers of such languages have been describing the nonverbal expressions of fear graphically, in greater detail to help everybody in understanding the whole scene. How a person expressed nonverbally while experiencing fear might be worth describing for them than just saying "He was in great fear while encountering a tiger at a close distance".

Actually, it's almost impossible that fear (flight response) isn't a single-most universal or a commonly shared emotion. Hence, they might be expressing fear nonverbally and do recognize it as a genuine emotional response. However, they might not be labeling the same experience as 'fear' just like the speakers of other languages having the words synonymous to 'fear'.

An old shaman (spirit-man) from Waura tribe
living in Amazonian rainforest of Brazil

Try to imagine about people living deep inside a large tropical forest. They strictly follow an ancestral culture that greatly respects the territorial rights of the wild animals living in the same forest. How they do react upon sighting a tiger in a close proximity is labeled as 'a display of respect to the protector of forest'. However, the observers not following the same culture might simply label it as 'freezing in fear'.

Actually, screaming, making rapid body movements and running away does provoke some wild animals (big cats and bears) to chase and kill the runner. Hence, everybody is strictly trained by tribal elders to keep both hands steady, maintain total silence, hide weapons, stand still, keep looking ahead with wide open eyes while bending forward. Tigers don't attack them and just pass them by after doing so.

Some emotions could definitely be common across all cultures. However, other emotions or at least the triggering causes of emotional experiences aren't universal. Differences in cultures, conditioning, local environments and/or shared experiences might have led to shaping, modifying, recognizing, categorizing and/or labeling various emotional experiences slightly differently.

Indeed, emotion triggering causes, intensities of emotional experiences, physiological effects of emotional experiences and nonverbal expressions of emotions may not be commonly shared across cultures. Also, they may not evenly be shared, by all member of a family, a group, a culture, a society or a community. They're entirely context dependent or contextual.

Face masks showing different emotional expressions

As a human being, one of the greatest challenge for you is to recognize the different emotions of the people who matter you the most in your life. If you're doing it accurately and timely then you're a good 'mind reader' already. However, your attention to details, contextual awareness and level of empathy are the factors that determine the accuracy.

[#GLOBAL APPEAL: Irrespective of the slighter differences in our intelligence, perception, emotions, thoughts, priorities, motivations, perspectives and experiences; Compassion is the single greatest and universal human quality. It can ensure the continuation of our species while preventing the disastrous outcomes of our ruthless actions, decisions and creations. However, our passive optimism isn't doing anything for us and it never did. We need an active optimism.

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are still growing, learning and developing within human control (hopefully!), it's a greatest moral responsibility of all whistle-blowers, organizations, governments, politicians, institutions, journalists, philosophers, agencies, academics, researchers, scientists, developers, futurists, influencers, thinkers, leaders and experts to unite for creating boundaries, regulations, rail-guards, brakes, limits, ethics, rules and/or laws.

We won't get a second chance to do the same in future. That's why we all need focused, resolute, unanimous, consistent, collective, committed, coordinated, transparent and accountable efforts taken at a global scale. Are we not at all answerable to our children and next generations?]

Related Articles:
1) Chicken and Egg Paradox 2) Basic Emotional Expressions 3) Would aliens have emotions? 4) Can body language reveal thoughts? 5) Is Human Communication 93% Nonverbal? 6) Artificial Intelligence and Body Language 7) Human Interactions in AI Era

Artificial Intelligence and Body Language

Ameca AI Robot
expressing sadness

A few days ago, I witnessed something really interesting. A 10 year old boy was sitting in front of a television set. He was watching a show in which a set of six toy cars was being introduced by the host. The moment a toy car was being sent running on the race track, the boy started to scratch the section of the skin where the upper arm meets with forearm and then briefly bit the nails.

He kept palm of his right palm over the section of his left hand to scratch the skin before putting the fingers of left hand in his mouth. It happened over six times in a row within a couple of minutes. Unmistakably, it matched with the number of toy cars. Wasn’t it alarming? I really wondered which thought, emotion or feeling was repeatedly triggering self-soothing and stress-relieving behaviors in the boy.

By staring at the toy cars, partially crossing his arms, self-soothing and biting nails, he was conveying what I subconsciously sensed about. He kept staring at the cars and even didn’t bother to turn his face towards me when I said, “Wow! Aren’t these cars really nice? How about buying them?”. He briefly replied to me by saying, “Mummy wouldn’t allow to buy them because the toy cars are expensive.”

Isn't rapid growth of AI enough for biting nails?

Considering his age and situation, his body language and words were perfectly matching with one another. Although he was subconsciously conveying the strong desire to buy those cars, he was expressing fear or under-confidence at the same time only due to high possibility of getting scolded or reprimanded by his mother. Just like I did at the time, you might be feeling very sorry for the child at this moment.

As I've been observing him meticulously from last three years, I know how he normally expresses, behaves and moves around. It's the same boy from whom I got a confession about doing something when he blatantly lied about it to his frightened grandmother. Only due to the confession, I succeeded in calming down the panic ensued during a very critical medical situation in his own house.

Timely and accurately figuring out what’s most likely going in the mind of another person at the moment by looking at its body language gives an unequal advantage. This so-called ‘scary’ talent, capability or 'super-power' is always in greater demand, around the world. However, smart questions or elicitation statements also work as handy tools in digging out the truth.

So far, we’ve been reading emotions, intentions, feelings and moods by using our eyes and brains that have gradually evolved over a millions of years. However, the technology is trying to learn the talent. With rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) especially Theory of Mind (TOM) AI, an ability to read body language of humans could be its next achievement in near future.

Theory Of Mind (TOM)

"The possibility of getting terminated by our own creation is the most serious problem than it's not being able to read our body language accurately."

Are machines going to dominate this ultra-sensitive and private human domain too? Are they going to dictate our social or interpersonal decisions too? Should we be really worried about it? You already might have started to freak out. Just calm down! There’s a greater challenge about human mind and body language that AI, machine or any artificial system could never overcome. Please let me explain why.

First of all, Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t other-worldly, extraterrestrial, super-natural or ‘divine’ intelligence. We’ve enabled machines to work like a human brain without aging, breaks, fatigue and emotional interference. Also, an AI system learns deeply from literature or data created or provided by us only. Undoubtedly, AI is much faster and better in finding different patterns and links among them too.

Expressing different emotions on its face by an AI powered robot is way different than recognizing emotions based on facial expressions only. If you still believe that the face is the only place to look for emotions then you’re wrong. Sometimes, face wouldn’t express any emotion, feeling or intention at all while experiencing it. Other body language cues needs to be detected for recognizing it accurately.

Although robots are able to talk with us fluently and give emotional feedbacks during conversations, we’re not an army of identical robots. We all have some individual traits, quirks, nuances or idiosyncrasies. While reading an individual’s body language, one has to patiently recognize or identify what’s normal for the individual. It’s called as an individual’s baseline and everybody can have different baselines.

What's exactly going on here?

Ignoring an individual’s baseline is exactly what a young, energetic and inexperienced body language enthusiast does by jumping on quick conclusions, right after reading several books on body language within a couple of days. Just for the sake of reading the minds of humans quickly than themselves, Would AI systems establish the baselines? As of now, most of us made big mistakes by not doing so at all.

Apart from individual baselines, there’re several factors that silently or subconsciously dictate an individual’s body language like age, role, time, needs, rules, norms, location, gender, climate, culture, objects, situation, history, heritage, memories, experience, occupation, personality, social hierarchy, development stage, physical condition, sexual orientation, interpersonal relation, socio-economical status etc.

As two body language experts may have different opinions about a single person’s body language, any two different AI systems might differ in their readings. Additionally, AI can’t at all match with bonding, intuition, empathy, gut reaction, perceptiveness, 'sixth sense', contextual awareness and embodied experiences. It could never recognize or understand our deeper thoughts, emotions and feelings.

Nevertheless, reading body language using artificial intelligence could be greatly productive is certain contexts. Public security, senior caregiving and medical care are few such broader and serious fields or areas in which mental states, needs or even next moves of people can be quickly identified or predicted entirely on the basis of their facial expressions, movements, gestures and postures.

AI can surely save lives in an intensive care unit (ICU). A high resolution camera powered by artificial intelligence can record and monitor every single change in a patient’s facial expressions, postures, movements and voice. It can alert the doctors, nurses, attendants or family members upon detecting rapid, abnormal or unusual changes. AI can simultaneously save several patients.

Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

After looking at the possibilities and limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in matching our minds and reading our body language, we must accept a few basic facts and ask a few serious questions to ourselves before it's too late and things get out of our control. We took millions of years to reach the present stage but they're developing rapidly every day and has already outdone the average human intelligence.

Has any no other creature from Earth ever chosen an artificially developed or evolved intelligence to solve its problems? Never! Also, intelligence or problem solving capability was never ever separated from physical body. However, artificial intelligence neither follows the natural selection process nor it has any upper limit due to separation from biological body and physical brain.

AI is entirely unprecedented. It has been purposefully developed for the first time in the entire history of life on planet Earth. The tricks availed, methods suggested or solutions given by extra-physical AI systems in most areas of our lives might be equally unprecedented. Undoubtedly, it has also intensified the ever existing threat of this technology being overtaken by anti-socials.

At present, the 'morphing monster' is out for preying. Some AI tools have created global shock-waves through deepfake images and video clips of a few influencers, politicians and celebrities. They’ve massively succeeded in tricking the eyes of millions of viewers at least for a few moments by blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

A startling deepfake image of Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX),
who warned us about rapid development of AI

"As the only sufferers of the repercussions, are we wisely UNITED and unanimously committed enough to ensure that we don't destroy ourselves by blindly following a synthetic intelligence without a physical body like ours?"

Deepfaking would reach to next levels. There’ll be no surprise at all if full-length movies would be created by using AI tools in near future. Digital or artificial avatars of actors and actresses would act on their behalf. They would flawlessly mimic their body language, style and voice after learning deeply from all of their existing movies.

As it has been predicted by many experts and dramatically shown in many movies, artificial intelligence might become self-aware (Exactly WHEN, HOW and WHY?). Let's hope that it doesn't destroy us after realizing that it was purposefully created for solving the same problems that were mostly created by us only. Didn't we?

The possibility of getting terminated by our own creation is the most serious problem than it's not being able to read our body language accurately. Hence, it's our responsibility to retain and enhance our natural ability of reading people's emotions, feelings, sentiments and moods by observing their body language.

"A rapidly developing Artificial Intelligence system without any Ethics, Empathy, Morality, Regulations and Human Values could be nothing short of an Advanced Extraterrestrial Alien or a Super-Psychopath carrying the deadliest weapons."

'Actions speak louder than the words' is the paramount principle. It applies to everybody including the systems, governments and organizations that give the promise of a future full of safety, equality, harmony, abundance, prosperity, potentials, well-being and good life.

As the only sufferers of the repercussions, are we wisely UNITED and unanimously committed enough to ensure that we don't destroy ourselves by blindly following a synthetic intelligence without a physical body like ours? Indeed, divisions and mutual distrust are going going to be the greatest challenges for us to overcome.

As much as a rogue AI system, a psychopathic or anti-social person or group of persons with AI tools would endanger the humanity which is already facing the existential crises like rapid climate change, potential nuclear war and massive global unrest.

[#GLOBAL ALERT: Conveniently believing that the intelligence (problem solving ability) is only limited to the larger brains of the so-called 'dominant' species on Earth is the greatest human blunder. Also, it's an utter stupidity to blindly believe that the massive amount of data, numbers and literature that we've generated so far to teach AI systems is impartial, universal, unbiased, holistic, flawless, factual, perfect, ideal and/or safer.

That's why developing large and artificial systems based entirely on the basis of human thinking processes, brain and data to solve the serious problems might already be the perfect recipe of greatest disaster in the making. We already have created multiple existential crises, even before the rapid growth and development of Artificial Intelligence (AI).]

Related Articles:
1) Baseline 2) Context 3) Interpretation 4) Perceptual Bias 5) Would aliens have emotions? 6) Can body language reveal thoughts? 7) Nonverbal Advantage in Investigation 8) Domination 9) Social Class 10) Human Interactions in AI Era 11) Are human emotions really universal?

Chicken and Egg Paradox

While we assume that the brain moves the muscles, secrete chemicals and prepares the whole body differently under the influence of different emotions, one weird theory proposed by scholars William James and Carl Lange brings a mind-boggling twist or the so-called U-turn in the whole story. This is exactly like the Chicken and Egg Paradox i. e. which came into existence first and caused others to come into existence is really hard to tell.

According to their not so publicly famous James-Lange Theory, all muscular, physiological and hormonal changes are done first by our brain and then it consciously recognizes the same changes as experiences of emotions and feelings. In simple words, the behavioral responses given subconscious by the whole body are later consciously recognized as emotions and feelings by our brain. Body reacts first, Brain recognizes it later.

You might already know that physical responses are entirely subconsciously initiated by most primitive parts of our brain like Reptilian Cortex (Basal Ganglia or Brain stem) and Limbic System (Paleomammalian Cortex) than most recently developed part of the brain Neocortex (‘new brain’). Therefore, identifying the same with a name, label or title is a conscious and slower process which comes under the domain of Neocortex. Hence, it seems perfectly logical!

Let's imagine yourself in a situation. You're walking alone through tall and thick grass in African Savanna. Although you're taller than the grass, you can't see what's hidden inside in. You might be able see far away and up to the horizon but your height might help you in quickly detecting what's around you in the grass below. Still, you're walking upright with a great amount of confidence.

After walking over a few hundred meters of distance, you find yourself on an empty patch of land. On the same patch, you suddenly happen to see an adult lion eating its huge prey all alone. The lion gets alert about your existence, his ears raise and he starts looking right into at your small eyes. What your whole body is telling you to 'RUN!' only to save your precious life.

Image Courtesy: runnersworld.com

If your body was designed to let you think for a moment then consciously choose the appropriate physiological reaction in such certainly fatal situation, you'd have lost the critical window of opportunity to run faster and far away from the lion. Now, you might have understood Why your body reacts first and then your brain finds a word for it, just to communicate verbally.

What we simply can keep in our mind is that both brain and rest of the body can’t at all be separated from each other while experiencing and expressing psychological states. They both seamlessly and thoroughly work together in the dramatic, dynamic and complex process of making internal and external changes, while reacting sharply or responding slowly.

Brain isn’t a wireless remote control which can operate, control and move the entire body by staying physically disconnected from it. It is rigidly connected with the entire body through the long and flexible spinal cord. Any physical movement, expression, reflex or action simply can’t take place or occur without brain and body working together.

During simulated, virtual or real experiences, we might ‘blindly’ assuming that only our brain is running the whole show. However, critical importance of sensory organs like eyes and ears can never be forgotten because they only send the signals to the brain before generating any kind of experience.

James-Lange Theory

Perhaps, you might not be able to remember the entire details of the Chicken and Egg Paradox explained in details above. Just to make it extremely easy to remember, both brain and body are two different sides of the same shining coin. Aren’t they?

By the way, there are two other theories about emotional experiences that are namely called as Cannon-Bard Theory and Schacter-Singer Theory. Both propose two different routes followed inside our brains for generating emotional experiences.

No matter which route is the correct or valid one but ultimately body language gives the reflection of emotional experiences.

Related Articles:
1) Fear Factor 2) Basic body responses in stressful situations 3) Body Language Brain 4) Turtle Effect: Body response under threat 5) Surprise vs Startle Reflex 6) Amygdala Hijack: Irrational Physical Reactions 7) Botox hampers emotional awareness 8) Facial Feedback: World smiles with you! 9) Body Language under Stress 10) Are human emotions really universal?

Can body language reveal thoughts?

We have seen mentalists or psychic readers which can tell your credit card’s PIN number, your personal cell phone number, your address or even other private details just by observing you or asking your name in the very first meeting on a road or during a stage show.

Going even further, some mentalists or psychic readers can tell details about an individual just by looking at its photographs. Such ability empowers the readers to see through an individual like a large X-Ray machine. This is outstandingly mind blowing but equally scary too.

Although highly debated or doubted, mentalism or psychic reading might be a latest phenomenon in a million year long human developmental. However, everybody doesn’t need to a mentalist or a psychic reader to know about others because we all commonly share different emotions, moods, feelings, intentions, impulses, urges, desires, biases, approaches and attitudes. Human body is designed to express, convey, display or give them away almost unconsciously throughout our lives.

We can decode or understand somebody’s psychological, social and cognitive status and condition just by keenly observing its body language in a given context and at a given moment. Hence, decoding body language is largely and mostly equated with reading minds of the others in real-time. It’s practically and socially an extremely advantageous ability. Surprisingly, everybody has this natural ability. However, the degree of accuracy of reading others differs from one individual to another.

Being human is more than creatures with mostly predictive and instinctive behaviors. We possess a unique ability of thinking. Thinking sets us apart from creatures but thoughts set two individuals apart. Unlike commonly shared spectrum of physical expressions and behaviors, it’s the kind of thinking and thoughts which sets one individual apart from another. Obviously, the greatest question is Can body language of an individual reveal its thoughts?.

Before trying to find the answer of the question, let’s try to understand WHAT EXACTLY IS THINKING?. Thinking or forming thoughts is a conscious and also higher cognitive process which takes place even without any sensory stimulation or input. Process of thinking broadly includes judging, reasoning, forming opinion, crafting concept, generating idea, solving problem and deliberating. Emotions interfere with thinking process whereas thoughts regulate emotions.

Triune Brain or Three Brain Sections

We humans have three different sections of brain i. e. Reptile, Limbic/Mammalian and Neocortex. Both reptile and limbic sections initiate and regulate behaviors, expressions and displays related with survival, social interactions, territorial needs and mating. On the other hand, the thinking process supposedly takes place within and largely governed by neocortex (literally 'new brain') which is recently developed section inside the brain which sits right above the reptile and limbic sections.

Statue of the thinking man or the thinker is famous. The man is sitting with isolated, adapting closed body posture, giving support of his right hand to his face, maintaining downwards gaze or almost closing his eyes. By sitting at one place, he has diverted his entire physical energy and focus towards the (deep) thinking process or contemplation. While thinking about something, almost every human individual unconsciously switches to the similar kind of body posture.

Normally, frequency, intensity and duration of physical movements is strongly correlated with thinking process due to energy demand dynamics. Brain is an energy hungry machine which consumes almost 20% of the entire energy that body produces. Moreover, thinking alone burns 2/3 out of the same. Minimized or completed halted body movements help in diverting blood, glucose, oxygen and nutrients to the brain and especially the neocortex.

The Thinking Man

By looking at physical isolation, minimized movements, lowered muscle movements on face, steady neck and unmoving eyes; we can instantaneously know that an individual is thinking at the moment. Eye ball movements can give clues about cognitive processing such as memory recall.

Tiny muscular movements and/or micro-expressions on face reveal how the individual is reacting to its own thoughts. Diverted gaze, fixated eyes and partially or fully closed eyelids suggest the high degree of deliberate focus and concentration while thinking.

Hence, we can easily know if an individual is thinking just by looking at its overall body language. However, body language itself cannot reveal the thoughts of the same individual. The textual, numerical, symbolic and geometrical details of ongoing thoughts cannot be known. Other than using sign languages, it’s extremely tough or even impossibly to convey the exact details by using facial expressions, emblems, postures and hand gestures voluntarily.

Spoken language is the only medium of expressing, sharing or spreading thoughts, ideas, concepts, opinions, judgments and plans which are the ultimate products of activities taking placed among billions of neurons or brain cells. They are almost impossible to read from outside until expressed voluntarily. We simply can’t understand the exact details of thoughts until an individual conveys them verbally, puts them down on a paper or acts upon them ultimately.

Don’t you still believe it? Please let me explain it very simply. This very article made up of hundreds of words, numbers and special characters put under several paragraphs is the final product of my own thoughts about this very extremely interesting subject. Without publishing the same, how come you could have understood my own thoughts about it? Indeed, it was next to impossible! Isn’t it? Hope you clearly understood my point by now.

"An individual's body language can and does reveal thinking but not the exact details of its thoughts."

By the way, technology is trying to read human thoughts. In 2019, Facebook made an announcement of developing a device that can read thoughts directly from ongoing neural activities and translate them into words. Initially, this development is intended to help the patients who are suffering from paralysis to express their thoughts. However, end goal of is to provide the Brain Machine Interface to control and operate other devices.

Do you have Tin Foil Hats to prevent 'Thought Hacking'?

[Special Note: Our brain has an unique ability of visual thinking which is absolutely free from the words and languages. Visual thinking is thinking in the form of images, illustrations, icons, pictures and symbols.

Visual thinking utilizes our brain’s visual processing center and it is extremely useful in organizing data, connecting different pieces of information, understanding complex concepts or ideas and modelling.]

Related Articles:
1) Is Human Communication 93% Nonverbal? 2) Self-communication by gesturing 3) Why exactly languages evolved? 4) Body Language Brain 5) Words and gestures are alike 6) Would aliens have emotions? 7) Human Interactions in AI Era 8) Are human emotions really universal?

The Unspoken Sales Tool

Nonverbal communication is essential, especially since body language is 55 per cent of effective communication. Your eyes, voice, arms, hands, and full body positioning all play valuable roles in helping you build a connection with others.

Furthermore, when you take note of another person’s body language, you can tailor the conversation - and salespeople can be more aware of how a potential customer is responding to a pitch.

When a prospect is making eye contact, smiling, nodding, and using open-handed gestures, they are actively engaged in the conversation and interested in what you have to say. Make sure you’re facing one another and slightly leaning in to show the conversation is important.

Even when communicating in a large group, such as during presentations, eye contact and physical acknowledgments of other people’s presence will help you connect with your audience. Or, alternatively, they’ll help you, as an audience member, have a more personal connection with the speaker.

Paying attention to body language helps everyone in business. Most importantly, it helps salespeople connect better with their contacts. More details about specific body language, and how it translates in a conversation, are in the infographic below.

[This article was originally written by Kaylee White, who works for Ghergich & Co. (Ghergich.com) and writes for SalesForce Canada. Entire text and images have been re-published, by her formal permission, from the SaleForce Canada's blog article - www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2016/08/master-body-language.html.]

elates Articles:
1) Body Language in Advertisement

Body Language in Advertisement

Body language and commercial advertisement is a very strong connection. We can hardly imagine commercial advertisements that run on our TVs and during online videos without any human models in them at all.

When it comes to include the human models to promote product and services, they must make proper facial and bodily expressions and if not - at least give symbolic clues or hints to the target consumers and customers.

Even images, cartoon characters, statues, puppets or clay models are sufficient to get the indented persuasive message across as they are used sometimes to replace the human models. Hence, Nonverbal Communication in the commercial advertisements and endorsements is a vast area of research and application.

In March 2014, an Australian student from 12th standard who was pursuing her career with South Australian Certificate of Education (sace.sa.edu.au), personally contacted me by an email for a general guidance. She was working on a research project and she was trying to refine her research by getting advice from field experts.

She told me that she had gone through the articles posted on this website. According to herself, they have proved to be extremely helpful for her projectf. She had very interesting questions in the line with her project, to which I tried to answer or comment against.

The questions she asked and answers/comments I gave against as as following:

Question 1. Do you believe body language is used in advertising?

Answer: Of course, body language is used in an advertisement world. If human models are there then body language bound to be used consciously by most. Very good and common example is (fake, social or polite) smile. However, don't mistake or confine body language with or to facial expressions only.

Question 2. Why/why not?

Answer: 'Why' body language is used? Answer is that if human models don't express themselves unconsciously or deliberately (conscious expressions) then consumers (or target audience) couldn't able to try to relate themselves with models and finally the product or service being promoted.

Question 3. Do you think using the correct body language can positively influence consumer choice?

Answer: Of course, context specific and correct body language can positively influence consumer choice for sure. Good example is tooth paste advertisements in which models can be seen smiling at end. If they don't smile to show whitened teeth then that advertisement won't meet its purpose.

Question 4. Do you think using the incorrect body language can negatively influence consumer choice?

Answer: Incorrect body language, movements, expressions or behavioral clues can influence consumer's choice negatively. Very good example is a male model showing apathetic facial expressions and improper or unfit body movements in advertisement of fitness or sports related items.

Question 5. What do you think are the most effective methods (in regards to body language) advertisers can use to influence consumer choice?

Answer: I think that answers given against 3rd and 4th question are sufficient. Most of us people get influenced by effective clues given by human models to attract attention at, emphasize or underline certain features and appeal to user the product or service.

Question 6. Do you think certain fields of advertisement benefit more from using body language to attract consumers (eg. Ads for: sporting events, jewellery, food etc)?

Answer: Advertisements which are mostly related with physical, emotional, economical and social aspects of human world should (or say 'must') utilize proper body language (techniques) to attract and retain consumers.

Question 7. As a professional, do you personally think that there is anything I should further consider to refine my research?

Answer: Are you thinking to do master or doctorate with the subject? I would personally suggest you to study more about affective and context specific nonverbal communication in the field of advertisement.

Louis Vuitton commercial with models employing body language techniques

If you closely observe and analyze the face expressions and ther overall body language used in the commercial advertisements then you would realize that only positive emotions and uplifting moods are portrayed at the end by the models.

Related Articles:
1) The unspoken sales tool 2) Power Postures

Basic Gestures: Best Survival Tools for Travelers

Like most other enthusiasts, I like to travel and especially to those locations that never been visited before by me. Traveling is a unique kind of experience because it widens person’s horizon and also level of understanding about different types of environments, places and people.

A traveler put itself on test because it has to adapt to new place and environment while assuring its own well being. A traveling individual always has to remain fully attentive towards incoming signals that could give clear idea about different biological and non-biological entities.

This is the very reason why traveling generates the feelings such as thrill, achievement or adventure in the minds of the most people. Traveling to different locations, facing local people and adapting with local climates teaches many things that stagnation doesn't.

On the other hand, traveling person has to remain more conscious while sending out signals or communicating with native people. If the traveler and native people know same language(s) then there wouldn’t be many issues other than violation of some local cultural protocols and norms.

Both parties need to make certain compromises to let interaction and dealing remain smooth as much as possible. But what if both parties don’t know each others' language(s) at all? What if a traveler is visiting a territory that is filled with people belonging to entirely different ethnicity, race and culture? This is the real challenge that many people hesitate or even avoid to face.

Language barrier?

Many travelers might get frustrated or even give up in this situation because both parties could not understand each other well and perhaps feel misunderstood by each other. Nothing seems moving smoothly! Language barrier makes both traveler and native people ‘Dumb’ for each other. Still, they both parties need to cope up with language barrier.

Moreover, the traveler might feel guilty and restless because of certain local codes of conduct that might have been broken by it. There’s no way to convince native people that violations were unintentional and due to lack of knowledge only. Nobody would like to return back to home beaten or harassed by native people

What would you do when you are asked to migrate and live over a considerable amount of time period in a foreign territory? How you would communicate with native people without knowledge of their language(s)? Successful spoken communication without a good translator or translation handbook seems highly impossible in any foreign territory.

Still, we dare to venture in new people because we human beings (or any other animals on this planet) know a unique way of exchanging information without words or numbers. We all very well know, observe and experience that facial expressions of basic emotions are almost common across the globe.

There’s no other commonly known, observed and experienced facial expression or gesture like a smile - even if it’s genuine, fake, forced, polite or social. However, conveying information using muscles of face isn’t enough so we need to use our hands for exchanging different types of data, ideas, facts and figures.

Of course, we cannot achieve precision/accuracy and attain variety using gestures the way an established spoken or a sign language can. Any typical spoken or sign language may have its own (limited) vocabulary to meet different demands.

Yet there are few well known gestures that we all inherit and can easily learn. These gestures can really help us in surviving and negotiating challenges across geographical boundaries.

Some commonly known gestures or signals

Few commonly understood *facial emblems, neck movements and especially hand gestures which are equivalent to different words, phrase and sentences can definitely make a great difference. If you know them well and have used before accurately then facial and hand gestures can really give you an upper hand in foreign territory.

More chances are that native people would understand you clearly and instantaneously by observing your gestures as compared to any other attempts you do. In some situations, it could make difference between life and death too.

This world is full of both opportunities and challenges so we need to negotiate with them in an equal manner. We might miss many opportunities hidden exactly behind those few challenges we’re trying to avoid in our journey.

Destination Chennai

Before migrating to Chennai (a large south eastern port city in Tamilnadu state of India) with my wife to grab a good career opportunity, many people expressed great concern about language barrier that I would face. I wasn’t aware about native language - Tamil at all.

Moreover, the language is entirely different than any north Indian languages (specifically language like Hindi - world’s 4th largest population speaks it) because of its ancient and classical nature.

Still, I wasn’t much worried about communicating with native people because of knowledge about common hand gestures. In fact, I decided to put myself on a test - Efficiency and accuracy of gestures (or nonverbal signals) I use to communicate with people in different situations.

Hand gestures alone or sometimes combined with *facial emblems, neck positioning/movements and para-linguistic annotations can be used for conveying or enquiring numerical information, physical conditions, directions, geographical features, physical location, weather, characteristics/features, feasibility (related to something) and different objects or entities.

Different messages can be generated by making solitary gestures, by combining many or putting them in a certain sequence. However, one also needs to keep in mind that a particular gesture can convey message that can have an entirely different or opposite meaning in foreign population.

Vertically held open palm silently says ‘Stop’ or ‘Enough’ in western hemisphere but same gesture means ‘Come’ in Iraq. It’s exactly like single word having different meanings in different languages.

'Stop' Gesture

Good examples of common nonverbal signaling equivalent to different words, phrases and sentences are Hi, Hello, Bye, OK, Yes, Good, Bad, I’m (not) good/fine., My name is (your name)., I’m from (name of your native place)., I’m here., Thanks!, Sorry/Excuse me., Beautiful, Please, No, Enough, Not, Here (it is), There (it is), Crazy, This/that, Up(ward), Down(ward), Long, Short, Small, Big, Tall, Inside, Outside, Open, Close, Entity having shape like (the way hand gestures you make), It’s me., My mistake/fault, This/that is mine., On feet, Where’s the place/object (that you want to go to, get or see)? Oh I see., Which way? Who are you? What is price (of the particular thing)? What’s this/that? How (come)? What’s the matter?, Look at me/here/there/(or any other direction you point at)., Which one?, Bring this/that to me., I’m (not) coming/going., It’s (not) OK., It’s here/there. Stop, Come, Follow me., I’m (not) going., I don’t want this/that., Go, You may go first. Let’s go!, I take care of this/that., I’m thinking., Interesting, Is it so?, Disgusting, Hmm, Surprising, Tasty food, Terrifying, Keep this/that away from me. Though I’ve given only few examples here but many adverbs and verbs or actions can be represented by hand gestures only.

Can a person learn foreign language(s) also on its own? Of course, it’s very possible! A willing person needs to pay keen attention at native people using different hand gestures, vocal tones, *facial emblems, neck positions/movements and other body movements during dialogs. By picking nonverbal signals, the learner can easily figure out what native person might have spoken or said. For same, situational awareness is also very essential to have good idea of different contexts.

By sensing repetitive verbal and nonverbal messages in clusters, anybody can learn to speak any foreign language within just few days or months at least with a limited vocabulary. Undoubtedly, this is an extraordinary power of nonverbal communication that everybody would accept unconditionally.

Are they really 'Dumb'?

Words and numbers help us to exchange accurate and elaborate information about real and abstract entities. Even large vocabulary coupled with good knowledge of grammar can help somebody in achieving great success in fields like literature, media and education.

However, when it comes to basic survival situation then only few words are sufficient to get your message across. In same way, few commonly known hand gestures and *facial emblems can definitely help you in inducing their literal meaning in the mind of receivers.

Just look at thousands of dumb and deaf people who can easily communicate through sign languages that have numerous hand and facial gestures. Perhaps, it's the most advantegeous and conscious use of body language cues.

*Facial Emblems: Voluntarily movement of facial muscles to convey information especially cognitive and felt-emotive statuses. Good examples of emblems are frowning (pulling inner edges of both eyebrows together), raising eyebrows, protruding lower lip, biting lips, circling lips, biting tongue, pulling down both corners of lips, pressing lips together etc.

Related Articles:
1) Words and gestures are alike 2) Gestures: Are they learned or genetic? 3) Self-communication by gesturing 4) Cultural connection behind gesturing 5) Why exactly languages evolved?

Chameleon Fabrics for Social Clues?

How do you communicate intent and response when spoken language isn't possible? How do you let someone know something - when all you have are color-changing skin cells (chromatophores)? When we are afraid, our faces are very expressive, our verbal utterances even more so.

When we are confidently aggressive, our words and nonverbal gestures let everyone know just how confident we feel we are. This allows us to engage at a distance and avoid direct conflicts which might result in serious injury. But what if you are a lizard?

Until now, scientists were unsure about just how expressive the chromatophores of chameleons can really be. Scientists have found that they don’t simply change color to hide from predators. Chameleons use their skin cells to send nonverbal messages to one another.

Scientists can actually deduce the outcome of a nonverbal conflict between lizards, just by studying changes in their skin cell colors (Arizona State University, 2013; Ligon and McGraw, 2013). Like us, lizards send messages from a distance.

A little background: Humans are endotherms (we generate and regulate our own heat). But many creatures (like chameleons) are ectotherms (they depend on external temperatures). A side benefit though, is that only ectotherms can control the color of their skin cells. But wouldn't it be great if humans could, too?

Humans are extremely social creatures. So much so, that we have a number of disorders related specifically to inabilities to catch (or attend) nonverbal social cues (autism and ADHD for example). We also have automobiles, social media devices of various kinds and engage in very brief encounters that preclude our natural propensity to display nonverbal behaviors - the very same signals others rely on to figure out what we are doing or trying to say.

What if we could all be chameleons? What if we could make our skin tell others what they need to know - without having to stop what we’re doing and explain? What if those with attention deficits, autism and similar could catch all the nonverbal messages they missed, by simply looking at (conveniently) persisting, extra-expressive explanations on our bodies?

Researchers are working on woven LED displays like PLED (polymer light emitting diodes) which people can wear like fabric (Strickland, n. d.). Right now these luminescent fabrics make great advertising displays, or colorful stage costumes. But what if psychologists used them to help us send nonverbal messages to one another, while we are otherwise immersed (or overwhelmed) in a social setting? What if our clothing could express not only our taste and personality, but our real personality - what we are feeling very specifically but others couldn't see?

Then when someone hears (or misses) what we are saying and is unsure what we mean, a quick glance will elucidate that lost meaning in the same way chameleons send messages from a distance. “Sandy” Pentland (2008) of MIT Human Dynamics Lab is already experimenting with sociometric badges people can wear to send “honest signals” to one another.

This may allow gatherings of individuals to passively transmit the needed nonverbal signals needed to facilitate perception of social cues. Now imagine these badges using PLED fabric - a fabric equipped to pick up biofeedback signals and display them for others (instead of self-feedback) - now folks will know what we mean, not just what we are saying. And, they will know it longer than a simple gesture - it will be available to help them disambiguate meaning at whatever rate they are individually capable.

Imagine a classroom of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), side by side with average schoolchildren - engaged in the experience of learning new content - with the help of peer chameleons any one of which may hold the nonverbal social cue they missed. Wouldn't that be something?

Prof. Dr. Lonny Meinecke
(Location: Arizona, USA)

Author: Prof. Dr. Lonny Meinecke (Psychologist and Doctorate in Psychology from Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, USA))

References:
1) Arizona State University (2013, December 11). Chameleons use colorful language to communicate. Newswise. Retrieved from http://www.newswise.com/articles/asu-researchers-discover-chameleons-use-colorful-language-to-communicate
2) Pentland, A. (2008). Honest signals: How they shape our world. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3) Ligon, R. A; McGraw, K. J. (2013). Chameleons communicate with complex colour changes during contests: Different body regions convey different information. Biology Letters, 9(6), 20130892. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0892
4) Strickland, J. (n.d.). Fabric displays using LEDs. Retrieved from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/fabric-display5.htm

Related Articles:
1) What is Nonverbal Communication?