Week 3: Language

 Part 1:

   My girlfriend and I held the 15 minute conversation about our trip to New York during Thanksgiving. We haven't made plans as to what we are going to do and this was an opportunity to get some ideas going. I wanted to see a Knicks game, which was easy to convey using a shooting motion. Food was a little more complicated because of the specific types of foods we wanted to eat as well as what places to see. It was b frustrating for the both of us because I knew what I wanted to convey, but it was harder to use motions and body signals for specific things like going to Rockefeller Center. My girlfriend was getting agitated because she couldn't pick up exactly what I was trying to relay, which dragged on the 'conversation' longer than it needed. During this conversation, I think I had the 'power' because I was in control of trying to get ideas across and she was trying to figure out what I was wanting to say. The power of speech, to me, streamlines ideas better and more efficiently when both parties are able to communicate verbally. Cultures that use spoken words as a means of convey complex ideas run the risk of looking at cultures that don't use spoken words as 'less than' or primitive. I can see autistic people having difficulty relaying complex ideas/feelings through spoken word. It can give another person of the autistic person as being 'weird' and risk of ostracizing them from social circles.

Part 2:

    Communicating using only speech was easier compared to only using gestures and body language. I had to be cognizant of facial expressions and change in tone for the first few minutes but it got easier as the conversation went on.  It was easier for my girlfriend to understand what I was trying to get across but it was more difficult for me because there were parts in the conversation that I wanted to interject some type of emotion or body language but had to restrain myself because of the parameters of the assignment. It is super important to have some sort of influx of your voice or body language to fully convey an idea. A quote I like is "It's not more of what you say but more of how you say it." If you tell someone "I love you" in a monotonic, robotic-like tone, the other person may not fully receive or believe what you are saying. But given some substance and some gestures, then that phrase holds a lot more meaning and is more effective/better received. I think people who haven't been socialized much in their youth may have difficult times reading body language/social cues. I've seen videos of guys talking to women they have interest in dating but the women don't have the same interest. The women's body language is obvious of their lack of interest yet the guys keep pursuing them, oblivious of the lack of reciprocated energy. I can see not reading body language in war situations as a benefit. If you're in a hostile territory and in a town where the locals may not want you there, it can be deceiving if someone comes to you as friendly only to turn around and attack you.

Part3:

    Being able to write out our conversation would made things a lot easier compared to using body language and hand/face gestures. With texting being a more used form of using to communicate with other, being able to write to one another would be more natural, albeit a little longer to get messages/ideas across. Writing has an impact on cultures because it helps them be more concise when relaying information from person-to-person, or generation to generation. Folk tales, recipes, what plants are edible, etc. can aid in preserving and developing cultures. Social media has had a big impact on the spread of ideas throughout the world when it comes to spreading ideas. It allows other people from other cultures to compare and contrast their ways of life and gain more insights into how the world works outside of their own walk of life.