Nonverbal Communication

Thanks Sachchidanand. Agreed, our degree of exposure as a frequency of experience tends to regulate our subsequent sensitivity to similar stimuli (much as novelty and habituation themselves seem to function). Have you had a chance to look through the work of Craig Anderson? The effect is not just unidirectional (outward), but bidirectional (inward too) so far as how we see and how we respond in a social way. For example, exposure regulates "affective attention" and subsequent "affective arousal" - whether to elicit a fight/aggressive stimulus within, or to detach from empathic observance of others by a similar normative frequency (to no longer feel the need to exhibit help behavior). Do you think this is a sort of nonverbal internal self-organization of stimuli so that "messages" become "distorted" in cognition? It seems to help us adapt by lessening the need to adapt to these difficult stimuli. What do you think?

Thank you - oh yes, courtship displays, thank you for mentioning this as well. Do you think that this spectrum between fight (on one end) and flight (on the other end) is driven by a paradoxical social need for affective-fulfillment vs self-preservation? On one hand, we seem to desperately need constant confirmations of our worth and affective displays of warmth from others to give meaning to all this; and on the other, we are so afraid we will only receive the magnitude desired (negatives like envy, contention, aggression) and not the matching valence (positives like celebration of positive outcome, contribution, affection)? Image management itself seems to be an in-situ flight response using nonverbal messages. Your thoughts on this much appreciated.

Thank you both for these wonderful additional illuminations on this topic. Sachchidanand, I am very glad you identify with sublimation and its potential role in often using a plurality of inadequate substitutes to try and make up for a single urgent need. And thank you Mounia for connecting this to developmental association. One of my favorite articles on this is about a goose which any of us can discover an instant, empathetic link with (Fischer-Mamblona, 2000). Having missed that all important developmental experience to know how to respond to inner tugs of attachment urgency and fear of isolation, this poor creature found itself outside the communicative world of nonverbal expression necessary to acquire fundamental affective needs. By human therapeutic analogy, I think perhaps we might find in the example of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller, the true potential for haptic communication of any kind. As Mounia expressed, whether for substitution of lost sensory processes, or to augment the modalities available for urgent confirmation, touch offers a path to stronger emotional attachments and lifelong growth. Please see this short video of this amazing heroic pair: (Parent article): http://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/2012/10/11/the-heroic-companionship-of-helen-keller-and-anne-sullivan/ (Direct link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gv1uLfF35Uw Mounia, thank you so much for additional enlightenment on the history and future of haptics. The need for a developmentally attained association between the peripheral sense and its affective arousal is such an excellent example of the need to extend this type of research. This helped me recall the Sullivan/Keller pairing, which for all intents is an affective coupling between persons using haptic substitution (temporarily), to transcend the missing sensory boundaries (developmentally). I also much appreciate that you shared your understanding of the need for engagement and recalibration of modalities depending on context (the scuba example). I do agree, without some means to interpose the sense of self between incoming afferent stimuli and efferent potentials, there is no way to elevate self-esteem, no proof for self-efficacy to arise, and no way to valuate the self relative to other things affectively. We need to "perceive" emotion – and we can only do that if what we perceive stimulates emotion within us. Perception is only a detached set of neuronal vibrations unless we feel we are a key stakeholder in those vibrations, and with their effort to become meaningful. The haptic zoom is a great example of how human touch adapts to any environmental scale (even the digital world). Also, I very much appreciated your phrase “We often conclude our conversation or letters with 'Stay in touch' to reinforce the will of physical proximity” Sachchidanand. It instantly brought to mind Viktor Frankl’s wonderful “Will to Meaning” belief system (Frankl, 2006). Touch is just that: the mutual will to discover meaning - despite obstacles - by sharing something inseparably affective. We wish this for others just as we wish it for ourselves. References Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2012). The heroic companionship of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. Available at: http://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/2012/10/11/the-heroic-companionship-of-helen-keller-and-anne-sullivan/ Fischer-Mamblona, H. (2000). On the evolution of attachment-disordered behaviour. Attachment & Human Development, 2(1), 8-21. doi:10.1080/146167300361291 Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Swami, Yes--clues. In fact, I use body-language in assessing others today. However, it is a holographic process with verbal and nonverbal language composing a very small percentage of influence on what is being communicated. Our minds function through symbolic association found holographically and not a fixed model. Through this method my clients know if someone, in a sales situation for example, is telling the truth. People will tell us categories of their desires, which is sufficient for my clients to ascertain the specifics within their scope. Knowing the types, kinds and categories of what motivates others has many uses in educating others, business and private life. I focus on the symbols my clients reveal. They cannot be hidden and we all carry them with us everywhere. What drives language is the meaning behind verbal and nonverbal language. For me, body language is an option to observe in others and never essential. While nonverbal communication is important, there are severe limitations.