ボディランゲージの定義
Hey Len!
Hello, Asami.
All right, so this is another one of Len's daily notification to me with a title,
potential podcast.
They're not daily.
Oh, I would say that's like every three days.
All right, all right, fine. That's, I mean, if anything, that's like bi- or tri-weekly, right?
No, okay, we like this, we like this. I mean, I appreciate it, and...
Good, I'm glad.
And hence, let's talk about one of this, and this was definitely an interesting one,
because our podcast concerns with language.
Yep, and there was a follow-up to it, right?
So I think I had sent you one...
Yes, there was a response video to that, yes.
Right, and then there was a remix, which in essence was still supporting it,
but trying to bring a another sort of nuance, so...
Yeah.
Yeah, so this is about body language, or body language not being a language.
However, we want to start this out.
Right, I guess the question is, is body language a language?
Right, so we watched these, so in particular, we're referring to two reels,
the original one, in this case, by Alex Falcone, and the remix one by Professor Neil.
These were both about this idea of body language with, you know,
different examples and sort of nuance.
Something that I found from Alex's was a sort of focus point around how,
when we think about, you know, language, there might be an implication that there is a word
and an associated meaning for that word, right?
Like when you say the word, the meaning will always be attached to that word.
Yes.
This is in essence true, but I think for a caveat to some of this is that it's not one-to-one.
And this is going to help, I think, support the discussion here.
So I want to start out with this, right?
Language is not necessarily one-to-one.
It's not, if I say the word, if I say the word chat, then it doesn't have just one meaning.
You know, if I say the word clocked, it doesn't have one meaning.
Or eight, it doesn't have one meaning.
So with that in mind, I think that reinforces some of what they're saying,
which is that, you know, body language, the way that it is presented at times,
where if you do this, this is what it means, right?
This one-to-oneness both isn't generalizable and it's not one-to-one,
which those are kind of knit together, right?
That's maybe the framing or the starting that I would come out with this.
Was there anything you wanted to sort of say from those?
Um, no, I think that's generally sort of the argument that they're springing off of, you know,
is basically, is body language, things like hand gestures or arm stance, things like that.
Is this, can this be categorized as a language?
Because there are some correlation, like there's some general assumption made about certain
movement, but it's not sort of like clear, sort of one-to-one relationship or not even one-to-one.
But like, even if there is multiple meanings, it's not like a mutually agreed upon meanings.
So, you know, does it work as a language, basically, if only like one person uses it?
Yep, yep, this, right.
Right.
I think that brings us to that essence of what the follow-up by Professor Neil really tried
to nail down, which I think we both kind of understood and recognized as this,
like personal, individual nature of body language.
And so for each person, right, the body language may be driven by many things.
It may be driven by external internal factors, but it could mean a lot to one person,
and it could mean very little to someone else, even in terms of magnitude.
Is there, this is a, this is a sidebar question because I was just thinking about it.
In terms of us and our interactions with people and how they perceive body language,
ボディランゲージとは
is there anything you've ever been given as like advice about body language?
From anyone that really stood out to you, that was like, you either have to do this,
or you have to avoid that, right, in order for something to happen.
Oh, oh, wait, the famous example, I think, is like the peace sign, the one with your index
and your middle finger up and everything else closed, means it's like a very like harmless
like hand gesture when you're taking photos in Japan. And in other cultures, it can be very
offensive. And so some sometimes things like that. Yeah. But that's, that's, I think, to a certain,
that's, that's the extent of it, I think. That's an interesting, this, there are some
signals you can give, right, that might have gained a sort of larger meaning, right? Like you
mentioned, certain cultures may be having a particular hand signal or sign that, that could
be seen as offensive, right, or that, that tends to be offensive, or that's been accepted as
offensive, right, as part of the culture, the language itself. But yeah, those. But I would
call that, I would call that, like, like you just said, I would call that a hand, like sign,
like, it's, it's more, it's more like a sign language in that, like, it has a particular
shape that the doer form, like, you know, the speaker, I guess, of this language forms
intentionally. Yeah. And like, sure, it might mean different things to different culture,
but it's like an intentional pose that you make with your arms or hands or whatever. Right. That,
like, conveys a meaning. And whereas I think body language, at least in a context that they're
talking in the video, is more about sort of almost subconscious things that you, like, one does
with their body, but it's like consistent enough that people think that it's like a, it's a pattern,
like a recognizable pattern, and try to sort of infer meanings out of it. Like, the common one
is like, if your arms are crossed, you're like trying to guard off or something. And, and I think
what my criticism of body language is that it's, like, it's very inconsistent, and also unreliable.
But, like, even though the nature of it is very situation specific, and individual specific,
the way some people use, like, let's say, like, interrogators, and stuff, or like, you know,
people who do like psychoanalysis on, I don't know, like a convict person or something. They
use it almost as if it's like a scientific evidence that this person is, like, angry when asked this
question, or like, hiding something when asked this question, or, like, trying to hide something.
Asked this question, and I'm like, that I think is a stretch.
Right. I mean, because in that case, you're, I was just, I was just reading something,
which I think is related to this, I'm not going to be able to pull back the full example. But
you mentioned that, right? And it's like, this person, right, I'm reading and interpreting them
as being angry, right? Or guilty, even, right? Just, just like, the way you see how they twitched
their middle index finger there, when they said the word guilt, you know, they must be feeling
guilty. And it's like, right, the only place that this is valuable is perhaps in a talk therapy,
where, like, you're trying to engage on things you're doing unconsciously, and then investing,
not for judgment, because this, that could be happening for a number of reasons, right? That
person could be really nervous being in the environment they're in. They could, in fact,
they could be excited to do it again. I don't know. Right. Right. Right. And also,
in the talk therapy session, the idea is that it's, you have a lot of time to spend
ボディランゲージの複雑さ
on one on one basis, right enough to see if this is a subconscious habit, right? If this is like
repeated patterns, under certain conditions, like, like, you have all the time to do that.
You don't do that just on like the basis of like, I saw this guy across the bar,
and he's doing this, and therefore he's angry. Yes, you don't do that. Exactly. Yeah, like,
you know, and then we can we can go back and forth, right? So this idea of
there might be some cues that people assume, right? Like, it's like anger,
tension or something, but but it will always come with the coloring of your variant. And if it's
not on that individual, like, we're trying to investigate how you're experiencing, you know,
what that means, it's going to come with a lot of nuance that you're likely either going to be wrong
a lot of the time. Or it might just lead to, you know, negative outcomes or conclusions,
right? Unless you are specifically focused on really understanding an individual's
actions, like one person, right? Exactly. You know, one person's, I think, Alex's,
Alex Falcone's, you know, joke versions, right? One person's crossed arms of, you know, closed
off is another person's, I have heavy hands, and I need somewhere to put them. You know, like,
right, right. Like, yeah, yeah, that's it. So so that's, that's exactly it. And I think it's,
and therefore, I think it's difficult to classify body language as a language, because for language
to kind of work as a language, I think it needs to have semi consistent meaning across multiple
individuals, right? And enough of that enough threshold of people to do that, for
to form a mutual understanding. So when one person does, like cross of arms,
at least in that community, it has consistently been identified as, you know, one meeting,
and then that that can, like, statistically, possibly be able to carry like extrapolate that.
So, you know, but like, it's as soon as some other person from outside of town comes into the
picture, that all falls apart. And so it's really not a language. And also, even within one person,
you know, I could be crossing my arms right now, because I want to guard off. But also,
like, 10 minutes later, I'm crossing my arms again, because I'm tired.
Yeah, like, yeah, no, that's, that's a possibility.
That's, that's a possibility.
Yep. You only have so many motions you can make, right? Like, there's...
What do you mean?
No.
Listeners cannot see this, but I'm voguing right now in front of the screen.
There's a lot of there's a lot of vogue happening here. So
the arms are getting lost in the blur of the background, you know, so
yeah, I mean, that I, the idea that like, even within one situation, right within another moment,
somebody can come in and things can change. It doesn't leave body language as it's usually
described in terms right with a very like, useful or sort of applicable space, right? It's not the
same as trying to read a language. It's not the same as trying to communicate. It's not the same
as trying to communicate in a vocal language or in perhaps like a sign language, right? That's
different. Those are intentionally like agreed upon, as you had said,
meanings that we associate and then can communicate on. The rest of those are not, right? It's...
Yeah.
They're just, they're just not. People try to, right? They try to, I think,
maybe cyclically or circularly, right? Be like, crossed arms mean this, or open legs means like
aggression, or like, you know, like, you know, leaning, leaning forward means something,
I don't know. And then like, if you lounge backwards, you're like taking a power stance.
ボディランゲージの影響
And it's like, I've, I've thought about these, I've considered them. Usually, I look to,
you know, put myself in a relatively neutral positioning, if I think somebody will be
uncomfortable. But like, if I lean back, right, and I'm just relaxing, the intent is to create
a relaxed space, right? And like, I've gotten both responses, though, from anecdotal...
Oh, like some people thought that you like, you were like, acting a little bratty and a little
cocky, as opposed to welcoming.
Right, exactly. So in this anecdote, right, so I mean, this can happen multiple ways. But
students have tended to take my sort of like, laid backness in a very like, Oh, like, this is a,
this is a space where we're all just, we're just kind of hanging out. And we're trying and we're
thinking and we're pushing, right, these ideas. But I've had a colleague, like sort of ingest,
but I found that said colleague, I think has a, a strong version of reality that they seem to
adhere to. Where like, I was like, just sitting back in the chair at the meeting. And there was
a very, I forget the wording, but like a very, like, you seem, you know, in this sort of power
play, right, this sort of like, you know, and I'm like, I am relaxed, right. And I threw myself back
even further, right? Because it's like, you know, the joke here is this does not matter. Right? If
you're worried about my, I had a much stronger opinion on this, I think before, you know, some
career changes, I think it's still there. It's like, if you're worried about, I'll say it,
and then we'll caveat some things. If you're worried about the way that I'm presenting myself
in that moment, enough that you're not listening to me, and you're not like engaged with how I'm
trying to engage with you, that's a problem for you. Because like, this isn't what this version,
me sitting in a chair a certain way, if that's distracting you, you're missing out on the actual
human interaction. Like, now, fair, fair, you know, there's with that said, right, there are also social
culturally accepted norms within a space, right? You will likely have to many people, right, you
have to follow some of them, perhaps even all of them, depending on your situation, to attempt to
like, remove barriers, because people have put them up, because they feel uncomfortable with things
like ambiguity, things that feel out of place, things that are misaligned with their expectations.
So you create those to make the environment feel comfortable. I refuse, right? Like, if somebody
comes in, and starts being like, well, you know, I only feel like my students are actively engaged
when they're wearing pristine suits. I would be like, if I saw a class full of a bunch of suits
that I was coming in to teach, and I happens to be wearing a dress shirt, I would be like, excuse me,
I would go out and I would change into something way more ridiculous. And then I would come back
into the room and be like, All right, how many of you still want to wear your suits? Because this is
way more comfortable for me, right? Like, you do though, if the suits comfortable for you, that's
your that's your choice, right? I've been in a very nice. It's great. But also like, that's not what
we're here for. Anyway, rant, rant. That's it for the show today. Thanks for listening and find us
on X at Eigo de Science. That is E-I-G-O-D-E-S-C-I-E-N-C-E. See you next time.
