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tblue37

(64,980 posts)
86. We who are severely hearing impaired are, if we are committed to maintaining a
Sun Dec 20, 2015, 02:16 PM
Dec 2015

high degree of social engagement, as expert as dogs when it comes to reading body language, since we rely on such clues to help us understand what we only partially glean from the combination of sounds, lipreading, and context clues.

Eye-bugging, like most body language (BL) signals can have more than one meaning, depending on the context and, at least in most cases, the person whose BL we are interpreting.

For example, the evidently honest character of Jimmy Carter would prevent us from reading his recurrent eye pops as signs of deception. In his case we would probably say he either has a stylistic tic in which he pops his eyes for emphasis or, and this is more likely, a physical tic of pathological origin. I know several people with such minor tics (throat clearing, eye popping, deep-snorting {a particularly gross tic, I might add, with its wet snot sound}), and for most of them, the reason is pretty clearly physiological rather than psychological/emotional. Some do increase their tic frequency under psychological or physical stress, but most do not.

Since Tourette Syndrome derives from brain lesions caused by untreated strep infections, I suspect that many people, especially older people who experienced strep infections from insect bites or strep throat, but who had to get over it on their own before antibiotic treatment was available to prevent longterm damage, ended up with such brain lesions. For most who survived a strep infection, the brain lesions would probably be few and not particularly significant, but they could still produce a minor tic, or perhaps even a small cluster of related minor tics.

I suspect that Jimmy Carter's eye-bugging is such a tic, but that since it already exists as part of his physical pattern, he naturally increases the movement when he is speaking emphatically. Watch him in a video of an interview sometime. You will see him emphasize points by stretching his eyes that way. Carter's frequent smiling in odd places as he speaks is, I believe, another such tic. Dan Ackroyd captured the Carter smile tic in his impersonations, but did not imitate the eye bulging tic.

Now, eye bulging can mean the speaker is trying to deceive the listener by forcefully NOT overblinking, but it is just as likely that the speaker is unconsciously using the expression as a form of emphasis. Try it yourself. Imagine you are standing in front of an audience. Begin talking about something you consider extremely important. At key points you should experience physiological tension in various parts of your body. Your eyebrows might rise and thus tighten your forehead into a contracted wrinkling, which is often a sign of insincerity, but in this case would just be emphatic expression of important points.

As you raise your brows and contract your forehead, notice how your eyes bulge out. See? It is part of the BL consequences of speaking forcefully for emphasis. Probably you pushed your face slightly forward and began to gesture with your arms and hands at the same time, as HRC did whenever her eyes bulged, and your voice volume increased, as hers did.

IOW, she was speaking emphatically, so her entire face and body tensed up as a natural consequence of doing so--as would anyone's. If you watch the other candidates at moments of emphasis, you will see them engage in facial expressions and BL that could also be interpreted as negative signs if the observer is not sympathetic to the speaker. I support Bernie, but if I did not, I could misread his typical emphatic mouth clench as evidence of anger and an ugly temper. His typical double-hand/palm downward gesture is, when used by some people under some circumstances, a sign of contempt, dominance, and control.

IOW, BL signals can have more than one meaning. Dogs and deaf/hearing impaired people have *a LOT* of practice reading the signals in various contexts, so we are less likely to take one gesture or expression out of context and assume it has only one possible meaning in every circumstance.

Yes. I think that's a sign of psychopathy. Cheese Sandwich Nov 2015 #1
I'd say you forgot the "sarcasm" tag but I doubt you did. Metric System Nov 2015 #55
Please read my long explanation way down in this thread (post #86). tblue37 Dec 2015 #87
Oh grow up and stop making fun of her. riversedge Nov 2015 #2
I'm not making fun of her. grasswire Nov 2015 #6
Yes, you are. The only thing showing is your disrespect for a Dem. candidate. Shame on you. riversedge Nov 2015 #12
Shame on you. HRC is the leading neocon in the Dem Party leveymg Nov 2015 #14
Try staying on topic. I will not discuss what you are posting. Bye. riversedge Nov 2015 #16
You don't set the topics here. Stick around and defend your statement. leveymg Nov 2015 #20
And by the way, Hillary does lie a lot. Which is why most voters distrust her leveymg Nov 2015 #26
Remind me which candidate is leading the Democratic contest by 20+ points? brooklynite Nov 2015 #34
Remind me again which candidate is leading coyote Nov 2015 #39
Hillary's record wasn't the issue 72DejaVu Nov 2015 #27
If HRC didn't lie a lot, this wouldn't even be a topic. leveymg Nov 2015 #28
Those of us old enough to remember Nixon know how important body language is used to sell a message. Major Hogwash Nov 2015 #59
Looks like actual issues are like garlic to a vampire AgingAmerican Nov 2015 #71
Well said Android3.14 Nov 2015 #33
"Shame on you" artislife Nov 2015 #17
What's next? CoffeeCat Nov 2015 #31
" Oh grow up and stop making fun of her." DemocratSinceBirth Nov 2015 #45
I will say this. "Polished" is a word that Hillary supporters choose... Bonobo Nov 2015 #3
Well, people tend to blnk more when they are lying TexasBushwhacker Nov 2015 #22
I think she's trying to project authority and domination grasswire Nov 2015 #70
Manufactured and swilton Nov 2015 #32
Polished hootinholler Nov 2015 #49
Oh, that nodding head! merrily Nov 2015 #77
Only body language experts should reply to this thread? GusBob Nov 2015 #4
Eye bugging? mcar Nov 2015 #5
Here is a body language "expert" talking about Hillary. NCTraveler Nov 2015 #7
I love the last bit with Obama artislife Nov 2015 #21
This message was self-deleted by its author NCTraveler Nov 2015 #40
Eye bugging? leftofcool Nov 2015 #8
lol! nt m-lekktor Nov 2015 #9
I don't put much stock in reading body language. nt aidbo Nov 2015 #10
Well, the Swarm is here, and the consensus is, it's just one more of her presidential qualities! beerandjesus Nov 2015 #11
I've noticed it too, jkbRN Nov 2015 #13
yeah, then too grasswire Nov 2015 #83
Yes!!! Totally! jkbRN Nov 2015 #85
No. But I am an internet language expert Control-Z Nov 2015 #15
So many... Agschmid Nov 2015 #18
We are all body language experts unless we are neuroatypical, then maybe not. Kalidurga Nov 2015 #19
Okay, Captain Queeg... LuvLoogie Nov 2015 #23
Rec'd for the chuckle factor. I needed a laugh. CentralMass Nov 2015 #24
Body language experts? toshiba783 Nov 2015 #25
Dan Hill, Ph.D. and author of Emotionomics had this to say regarding Hilary EndElectoral Nov 2015 #29
there it is! grasswire Nov 2015 #58
"May" be trivial?? madamesilverspurs Nov 2015 #30
I would check her hands... brooklynite Nov 2015 #35
LOL CrispyQ Nov 2015 #48
Oh for fuck's sake. NuclearDem Nov 2015 #36
Double fucks's sake. nt kelliekat44 Nov 2015 #38
I've been told by an intermediate school psychologist cosmicone Nov 2015 #37
Oh for crying out loud treestar Nov 2015 #41
You beat me to it. nt Skidmore Nov 2015 #42
I suppose next you'll be consulting Oijua boards dsc Nov 2015 #43
Pitiful alcibiades_mystery Nov 2015 #44
Uff da! MineralMan Nov 2015 #46
Really? Adrahil Nov 2015 #47
Well, if an elementary school psychologist told you that ... JoePhilly Nov 2015 #50
Well you did a good job of planting more bullshit doc03 Nov 2015 #51
Thank goodness she didn't sigh! NurseJackie Nov 2015 #52
kickin' Faux pas Nov 2015 #53
What a ridiculous OP. thucythucy Nov 2015 #54
don't know what's funnier, the OP or that it's gotten 18 recs. wyldwolf Nov 2015 #56
We've definitely noticed some behavior. JTFrog Nov 2015 #57
Im sure it's going on someone's permanent record. Warren DeMontague Nov 2015 #80
Ok. zappaman Nov 2015 #60
I didn't do it! lumberjack_jeff Nov 2015 #61
No, this is pretty stupid. Starry Messenger Nov 2015 #62
That, and she cackles like a hen when she's lying ThePhilosopher04 Nov 2015 #63
I see the OP has retired from the playing field after only one additional post onenote Nov 2015 #64
Another thread to the trash for stupidity. nt pinstikfartherin Nov 2015 #65
Message auto-removed Name removed Nov 2015 #66
I find people's expressions and body language interesting. senz Nov 2015 #67
yes, that. grasswire Nov 2015 #69
That's a good point. Candidates don't want to look "too old." senz Nov 2015 #74
18 recs for this crap Beaverhausen Nov 2015 #68
"this may be trivial" . Do you really think so? oasis Nov 2015 #72
I'm surprised Hillary supporters are so threatened by this subject. senz Nov 2015 #73
Scraping the bottom of the barrel? Beacool Nov 2015 #75
What does a body language expert say about someone shouting, especially when saying others are Thinkingabout Nov 2015 #76
What does anyone say about those who repeat falsehoods all day long? senz Nov 2015 #78
I wonder that also, there are a lot of falsehoods going on every day, debunked today and back Thinkingabout Nov 2015 #82
Off the subject, Ive noticed that when Ben Carson or Carlie Fiorina are about to lie, they Warren DeMontague Nov 2015 #79
oh, Fiorino! grasswire Nov 2015 #84
My biggest hesitancy around voting for her in the primary has to do with some of her votes Warren DeMontague Nov 2015 #81
We who are severely hearing impaired are, if we are committed to maintaining a tblue37 Dec 2015 #86
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