What would we do in a world without words?
How would we live out a life without the frills and trills of day to day chatter, and banter, and cheer?
Words are so tightly woven into our lives that it is quite scary to close one's eyes, and imagine a day in the world in which letters or alphabets ceased to exist.
You wake up one morning to find the newspaper printed in ancient heiroglyphics. You then turn to your mother to express your sense of perturbia, but is astonished to realise that it is suddenly beyond your mental capacity to piece together a proper string of words to convey your overriding thoughts and emotions.
Words are so essential in every day communication, but so very "ordinary", that hardly anyone ever stops to marvel at the cataclysmic repercussions that has stemmed from the development of the written and uttered words to date.
Without words, the internet wouldn't be as great a platform of the exchange of information as it is today. History would be passed down not through words of mouth or written scribes, but through artifacts and antique treasures or heirlooms, that can hardly speak of the tales it has witnessed and seen. But there must have been a time before the existence of worded speech, where people communicated to each other not through structured talk and language, simply because there existed no such means. They must have learnt to communicate through the reading of non-verbal cues, and the interpretations of another person's motion. (Cavemen action springs to mind here!)
How would we live out a life without the frills and trills of day to day chatter, and banter, and cheer?
Words are so tightly woven into our lives that it is quite scary to close one's eyes, and imagine a day in the world in which letters or alphabets ceased to exist.
You wake up one morning to find the newspaper printed in ancient heiroglyphics. You then turn to your mother to express your sense of perturbia, but is astonished to realise that it is suddenly beyond your mental capacity to piece together a proper string of words to convey your overriding thoughts and emotions.
Words are so essential in every day communication, but so very "ordinary", that hardly anyone ever stops to marvel at the cataclysmic repercussions that has stemmed from the development of the written and uttered words to date.
Without words, the internet wouldn't be as great a platform of the exchange of information as it is today. History would be passed down not through words of mouth or written scribes, but through artifacts and antique treasures or heirlooms, that can hardly speak of the tales it has witnessed and seen. But there must have been a time before the existence of worded speech, where people communicated to each other not through structured talk and language, simply because there existed no such means. They must have learnt to communicate through the reading of non-verbal cues, and the interpretations of another person's motion. (Cavemen action springs to mind here!)
Even in today's world, tens of centuries later, non-verbal communication has not died out entirely! We see it has evolved, arming itself with the ability to convey meanings and illustrations through widely-consensual, or universally-interpreted motions and context.
MIMES!
A facet of the theatrical works, silent comedies are enacted to portray a story solely with the use of body language, without speech. Origins of this artistric tool can be traced back to ancient Greecian times, when it was first called a "Pantomime", and was accompanied by a sung narrative and music in the background. I have provided a link to a short mime that unravels the a story of a love pursuit, in line with the atmospheric buzz over the upcoming Valentines' Day! :)
In retrospect, I remember how I was once so fascinated with my after-school Tom and Jerry cartoons back at the tender age of five! Catching a recent episode on television while flipping through the channels just a week ago, I could not help but notice that there was an off-putting difference between the T.n.J on the telly, and the T.n.J I had come to know and love from my childhood days. It then hit me that one big change that had transpired was the addition of speech to the animal characters in the show! It amused me that I was able to greatly enjoy and actually understand the sequence of mischievious and manipulative events that take place in every T.n.J show, just based on non-verbal and animated cues alone. I understand that in order to fight with the competition of other fast-paced action cartoons, the introduction of speech to Tom and Jerry was possibly done from an act of neccessity. However, I'd have to say that I still prefer the non-verbal, classic version of it, and I have managed to find the link to one of my more memorable episodes online! Yippee!
Developed by Mr. Rowan Atkinson himself while studying at Oxford University, this British-programme strives to encapsulate the parodies that fills the life of a man with child-like qualities. Filled with little dialogue, this non-verbal series transcends the barriers of languages, and is able to captivate audiences worldwide! Falling into the category of "Physical Comedy", this show communicates greatly on intentional symbolic behaviour that people are able to easily recognise and interpret the consensual meaning behind it; as taught to us in class this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3I7G-w3hTY&feature=related
THE PRAYER: HAND MIME
This is a hand mime performance put up by the San Roque Youth Ministry Mandaluyong, to the song "The Prayer", a beautiful duet sung by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church. We learn that today, verbal and non-verbal communication both actually exist as a whole, and that nonverbal cues are extremely infleuntial and often undervalued. This video reiterates and resonates the power of nonverbal imagery and actions, which together with the music and the lyrics, is combined to evocate in people an emotion that is synergistic, and more overwhelming than if one were to listen to the music, or view the hand mime performance, alone and separate. This underscores the strength that comes from communication with both verbal and nonverbal means working together, and complementing each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn6DO7G96KE&feature=PlayList&p=599FEB04ECC3EC19&playnext=1&index=14
I hope you guys enjoyed the videos as much as I did!
Thank you for spending time to peruse through this page! :)
6 comments:
The best form of communication is one which requires no thought (effort in preparation or comprehension of the idea or message). Like the video examples above, when "it" happens a little place inside our head goes "AHA!" - instant recognition.
Words are never enough to fully convey what we mean, indeed it can even frustrate as we struggle to search for that one exact word.
Sometimes the quietest people are the ones who know the most because they pick up on so much more going on in the room as compared to others who are busy mingling verbally. There's so much to be read from a person's bodily actions and mannerisms, and empths (people who are very sensitive to the emotions of others, seemingly almost telepathically so) would know best about how this works! :)
On the flip side, there is a danger of being too overly sensitive, and "reading" people might lead to the development of slanted impressions because everyone's perception of things are different.
There is still a necessity for open and verbal communication in order to express a person's true thooughts and emotions.
Non-verbal communication is also a very important aspect in the conveyance of ideas not just about an individual's facial expressions, body gestures and attitudes. It also speaks (silently) and provides a reflection of the culture of a community on the whole.
For example, in singapore, the kind of car you drive around out tiny little island is much more than that of a transportation vehicle. It also speaks (non-verbally) of the status that you have. It makes an image difference what car you drive - a KIA picanto or a Mercedes SLK. That's in the context of Singapore. Having an expensive car is generally a good thing in singapore.
However, if you were to be cruising around in America or Australia with prestige model vehicles, it would be reason for someone to scratch thier heads in wonder as to why anyone would be so carefree with their money, lavishing so much cash on what is nothing more than a transport medium of getting you from point A to point B. It is generally not a good thing to be driving an expensive car in such countries that attach no status recognition to the type of vehicle you own.
Hi mal!
I'm currently studying socialogy as one of the modules i'm taking this semester and i was intrigued by this week's post on non-verbal communications.
So i've been reading, and as much as we would like to say that looks don't matter, it is sad to say that they invariably do. Elements such as physique, height, weight, hair, skin color, gender, odors, and clothing send nonverbal messages during interaction. . For example, research into height has generally found that taller people are perceived as being more impressive. Melamed & Bozionelos (1992) studied a sample of managers in the UK and found that height was a key factor affecting who was promoted. Often people try to make themselves taller, for example, standing on a platform, when they want to make more of an impact with their speaking.
Post a Comment