Nonverbal Communication
Sofia Martinez Flores
Nonverbal Communication
Introduction
This essay is about how human beings despite we are the only specie in the world that uses verbal communication the majority of our communication is nonverbal, nonverbal communication goes beyond body language, appearance, gestures, etc, that is why many scientists and philosophers through out history had studied how human beings use nonverbal communication including the themes of mimesis, nature /nurture and affects and emotions.
Mimesis
Mimesis is a term that carries a wide range of meanings, it is the Greek word for imitation, Imitation has been central to philosophical discourse through history, Plato and Aristotle were the first to treat this subject, Plato said that “all elements of matter in the created world were a mere shadow, or imitation of their absolute form in the non material realm of the Good.”, mimesis was view as a weaker and distortional version of reality that limited intelligence and destroy identity, that idea is still latent because imitation is nowadays related to lack of initiative, submissiveness, comfort zone, unoriginal and conformism.
On the other hand Aristotle had a much more positive opinion about mimesis, he said “ imitation is natural to man from childhood, one of his advantages over the lower animals being this, that he is the most imitative creature in the world, and learns at first by imitation”
Since we are born our learning is based on imitation, babies tend to imitate adult gestures, voice, etc. and as we grow up imitation continuous, Meltzoff and Moore (1977) unwittingly discovered that newborn infants were able to learn via imitation immediately upon birth. What they found at first was that two-to three-week-old infants could instantly match body parts between themselves and adults, being able, for example, to imitate facial expressions and various hand gestures, “imitation is such a unique behavior that is basically what makes us humans” Garrels, S.
Nonverbal Communication
Introduction
This essay is about how human beings despite we are the only specie in the world that uses verbal communication the majority of our communication is nonverbal, nonverbal communication goes beyond body language, appearance, gestures, etc, that is why many scientists and philosophers through out history had studied how human beings use nonverbal communication including the themes of mimesis, nature /nurture and affects and emotions.
Mimesis
Mimesis is a term that carries a wide range of meanings, it is the Greek word for imitation, Imitation has been central to philosophical discourse through history, Plato and Aristotle were the first to treat this subject, Plato said that “all elements of matter in the created world were a mere shadow, or imitation of their absolute form in the non material realm of the Good.”, mimesis was view as a weaker and distortional version of reality that limited intelligence and destroy identity, that idea is still latent because imitation is nowadays related to lack of initiative, submissiveness, comfort zone, unoriginal and conformism.
On the other hand Aristotle had a much more positive opinion about mimesis, he said “ imitation is natural to man from childhood, one of his advantages over the lower animals being this, that he is the most imitative creature in the world, and learns at first by imitation”
Since we are born our learning is based on imitation, babies tend to imitate adult gestures, voice, etc. and as we grow up imitation continuous, Meltzoff and Moore (1977) unwittingly discovered that newborn infants were able to learn via imitation immediately upon birth. What they found at first was that two-to three-week-old infants could instantly match body parts between themselves and adults, being able, for example, to imitate facial expressions and various hand gestures, “imitation is such a unique behavior that is basically what makes us humans” Garrels, S.
References: Cayley, D. (2001) “The Scapegoat”, Part 1, IDEAS. CBC Radio. Garrels, S. (2011) “Chapter 1 – Human Imitation: Historical, Philosophical, and Scientific Perspectives”, in Mimesis and Science: Empirical Research on Imitation Segerstrale, U. and P. Molnar (1997) “Nonverbal Communication: Crossing the Boundary Between Culture and Nature”, in Segerstrale, U Patterson, M. (2006) “The Evolution of Theories of Interactive Behavior”, in The SAGE Handbook of Nonverbal Communication Nystrom, Christine. 2000. “Symbols, Thought, and Reality: The Contributions of Benjamin Lee Whorf and Susanne K Tomkins, Silvan. (1962) “Chapter 7 – The Primary Site of the Affects: The Face”, Affect, Imagery, Consciousness, Vol. 1, New York: Springer, pp. 113-227. Russell, James et al. (2003), “Facial and Vocal Expressions of Emotion”, Annual Review of Psychology 54: pp. 329-49. Gervais, M