Comm 105-perception

In chapter 12, it talks about perception of people.  Most perception is formed due to constructs of their culture and their experience.  Our book states that Meaning is not extracted from nature but projected  by people on it.  

It also states that our values and attributions are culture specific.  I was at work the other day and I was expecting this new release for the Playstation 3 to ship in so we could sell it to people.  It turns out that the video game had to be pulled and be scheduled for a later release.  The reason for this, which I researched, was that the video game contained a song of a featured artist which contained a couple of lines of the Quaran.  Someone wrote a letter saying that it was disrepectful to associate pop music with this particular religion.  Before you know it, they pulled the game and informed retailers that they will have to reschedule another release date.  

I know whoever wrote the letter obviously cared about his beliefs and was just trying to be respectful to them, but who, out of everyone who bought the game, would have cared or for that matter, be offended?  Or another question, who agrees with him and the result of the action.  Just to provide and argument, there are a lot of games that have a lot of mature content such as blood, gore, violence etc.  This game, was a game rated "E" because the content was suitable for anyone interested.  It's  a little interesting  because I would understand a game with aggressive violent content, would be a focus for re-evaluation on a release but....you know what I mean?

Comm 105-question 2-premises

In chapter 12 of our book, it discusses how most Americans are rational, perfectible and susceptible.  It describes 3 different premises.

The first one, rationality premise, says that most humans are capable of discovering truth through logical analysis.  I don't think this is true of most humans becuase I have dealt with people whose emotions get the better of them and they lash out in a fit of rage or frustration.  No real logic in that action.  I also can't understand when some people don't realize when something they are looking for is right in front of them.  Not many people have the experience to know how to analyze something.  Its through no fault of theirs but, there are people capable of this rationale to help them and society.  Psychologists and therapists are probably the better examples of this logic because they get information in order to do an analysis.  More often then not, they figure a person out for that person they are helping.

The perfectability premise I have seen.  I would like to think that people work to better themselves but I know its wishful thinking in some cases.  I for one work under this premise.  If a job makes you feel good about what you accomplish, your only hope is to become better as a worker and a person.  Its about achieving goodness through effort and control.  Again we can go to the whole therapy thing and also rehab.  People go to rehab to better themselves for their addicitons.  If they really try then they should expect results.  They can't expect to have results if they put no effort.  It's the same as giving up.

Finally, the mutability premise, which I think is also the influential premise.  This is very apparent in people.  Enviormental factors and surroundings can make a person behave or act a certain way given certain circumstances.  I can't think of another example or group that would best fit this premise but I think that social experiments are a good example of seeing what people do in situations they aren't typically involved or associated with.

Comm105-Question 1-Creatures of our culture

I think  I do believe that we are creatures of our own culture.  And its hard to break out of our habits and beliefs depending on our experiences.  There are ways to break out of those kinds of things and possibly open our eyes to a whole new experience.   Also, there are ways to open our eyes to other people's view points.

There are several shows on tv that help people and teens that are set in their own ways that they don't see or care about anything going on this world but themselves.  Their actions and attitudes often call for a reality check so to speak.  There's this new show where a spoiled teen and daughter of a wealthy man, not Paris Hilton, where she is sent to live with a rainforest tribe in the Amazon.  Talk about extreme immersion  into another culture.  The benefits of this would be: education, experience without material things, and the ability to meet new people and respect them for their culture.

I think as we speak, we are set in our beliefs and culture, considering the electronic age can work for us cross culturally, or work for us just to stay within our own culture.  I think its amazing that we can play video games with people from different parts of the world.  Just the other day I was playing a game with some people from England, South America, and also from Japan.  It was beyond my understanding but I enjoyed it and I took the opportunity to engage in conversation with them,  while I was wooping their butts.

Comm105-Facial expressions

The human face has so many muscles in it to help show what kind of emotion we are feeling.  You ever wonder what our face looks like the moment we feel confused, angry, sad, or amused.  I think it won't be the same if you try to recreate it in a mirror.  The same goes for eye movements.  Whenever someone feels like they are uncomfortable or trying to hide something, they almost never look you in the eye in a face to face interaction.  Some people might call it a tell, if they thought the person was lying about something.  Eye movement can also tell you if someone is intoxicated or under the influence of a a substance.  Eye movement can be very rapid or look like they are very heavy to a person.  Vertical nystagmus is a way of seeing if a persons eyes start shifting very rapidlly when they are told to look directly to the side without any signs of rapid shakiness to their eyes.

There are so many ways to show emotion in the face and eyes that without this capability, we could not communicate effectively to other people, exactly how we feel.

COMM 105-nonverbal messages #2

I can't really say that I have been a whole lot of situations where some nonverbal messages meant something different in another country or vice versa.  I can say that I have experienced another culture's idea of personal space.  In Jamaica, where everyone is pretty friendly and laid back, you can get a massage out by the beach in some of the resorts.

During the massage they get all the necessary areas: back, neck, shoulders, and then they move down to the lower back and then out of nowhere they lift the towl and just grab a handful of your butt and start working that around.  I can't say I was expecting that because that doesn't happen over in the states.  At least not in all massage therapy spas.  I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be disrespectful.  After a while I just let it slide.  After all I couldn't really complain.  

Enough about that though, It is funny yet interesting to think that nonverbal messages have different meanings in different parts of the world.  Making eye contact with some cultures is a sign of disrespect and in some an address of a challenge.  In other cultures, physical contact is against the rules for greeting someone.  So shaking hands with someone is out of the question.  Its probably very important to do research on the customs and practices of other cultures that way other people get the best impression out of you and hopefully see that you are trying to be respectful to their culture.

Comm 105-Nonverbal messages

Sadly I have been in a situation where I misinterpreted a nonverbal message.  It was much like a the last scene in the movie "Swingers" where Vince Vaughn and John Favereau are sitting in the diner and Vince's character sees a woman making cute faces at him, so he thinks.  He persists on making faces back, thinking she is directing them at him.  Turns out that she was making them at a baby sitting across from her.

My experience was somewhat the same and I ended up looking like a complete idiot.  I felt confident enough, the message was just not for me though.  

A way a person can increase their accuracy at reading nonverbal messages is to maybe do some research.  If you were like that guy chris Angel or David Blaine who are good at reading people's mannerisms and eyes you could tell a lot about a person just by looking at them and what they are thinking about.  These guys must have secrets and research methods on how to read people's behavior.  That's the only way I can think it would be possible for those guys.  Otherwise, experience is a good way to establish good estimates on nonverbal messages because it would include previous references and material to revert to.  

I also think that some people know how to take all of those characteristics in and hide them so that no one could be able to tell what that person is feeling or going through.  Nonverbal messages can be very subtle and they can be very strong.  

COMM 105-high and low context cultures

I am having a little difficulty fully understanding what a low and high context culture is.  I guess my understanding is that if a language is spoken to someone who understands it, clearly and concisely, they would have no trouble understanding what the other person meant.  If a language has high context, it may have a little more meaning than what we first interpreted.  Either that, or it is hard to interpret depending on the way it was delivered.

I went to a festival today where there were aztec dancers and mariachis performing.  The aztec dancers explained to us how plain english words originated from aztec words.  For example the aztec word for tomato was xitomatl.  The spanish switched it to tomate.  Very similar, and then the english of course tomato.  Just one letter difference and you have a word that anyone could understand regardless if it was in spanish or english.

Very clever I would say.  So many words in the spanish language sound almost like their english translation.  I found myself saying words in spanish that I had never used before because it sounded right.  Sure enough I was saying them right.  I try to learn a new word every day to my spanish language arsenal.  

men and women:using language

I do believe that men and women use language differently.  First of all, the way a man talks to a woman if he is interested in her is different then when a woman talks to a man.  Ever see those James Bond movies where he uses a clever one liner to gain her interest.  Its not that different in real life for a man to use some sort of witty line or humorous analogy to gain interest from a female and possibly a conversation.  When a woman does it, it is usually very subtle but noticable.  For example, everytime a girl has flirted with me, it usually consists of a compliment on my physical appearance.  Why is that?  Granted it was very flattering, I also noticed that it worked.  I was at work one day and I walked out of the stockroom with a flatbed pushcart loaded with heavy boxes of detergent and things like that, and this girl, out of nowhere, comes up to me and compliments me on my physique and asked if I was in the army.  It made me nervous when she copped a feel of my arms and asked me if I worked out.  Ridiculous.  Funny but ridiculous.  

Later I found out that the girl had been watching me for some time and got the courage to make a first move.  

Anyway, back to topic, there also situations when language between men and women isn't so different.   Has anyone ever had a friend, who was a girl, that fit perfectly in a group of guy friends?  Not only did she carry a conversation like a guy but she didn't seem uncomfortable with the topics a guy would bring up?  There are women out there that prefer to communicate with men then with women.  For some reason they can't talk to women because they don't get along, so they claim.  

It is true though, as stated in chapter 4, that men's conversations consist of achievements or complaints for that matter.  Women's conversations usually consist of h deep thought and expression of feelings.  I don't know why that is because there isn't a law of  nature that says we all can't talk the same way.   Maybe it is a plan of a higher power that men and women are different.  Some of us may already know that.