"Discovering the Secret Life of the Most Forgettable Words" by James Pennebaker appeared as a very interesting book from two fronts, computer science and human psychology. In the beginning, Pennebaker lists tweets from Paris Hilton, John McCain, Oprah Winfrey, and Lady Gaga in order to demonstrate the variance in which humans communicate. He opens the book from a very high level noting that the seemingly insignificant words are typically the most important in determining the health and welfare of a particular individual. For instance, he notes that pronouns, articles, and prepositions are indeed the most revealing words, even more so than emotionally charged words. Furthermore, his research identified cognitive words, such as effect, cause, reason, and balance, as the best for healthy writing.
Subsequently, I admire Pennebaker's work in the fact that the details are most essential aspect of anything in life. The word processor on which I am typing is composed into thousands of lines of code which happen to have significant impact in the long term process. Pennebaker continues to note that there is a correlation with how one communicates and inferences that can be drawn. For example, he exclaims that when one uses more verbs, they tend to score lower grades in school or the increased usage of the pronoun 'I' in poems implies a higher likelihood of suicide. Also, he claims that people are happiest when they switch from talking about themselves to others and back to themselves. Perhaps, I would be curious for Pennebaker and his algorithm to evaluate the way in which I write.
In addition, Pennebaker's example that he uses throughout the first chapter is the emotional baggage that one carries from a traumatic experience. However, he shines light on the fact that expressing oneself through writing or communicating verbally can increase physical and mental health. He recommends that re-telling traumatic stories from a different perspective to avoid telling the same depressing story over and over. This acclaims to acknowledging the negative and celebrating the positive, implying that a moderation of negativity is ideal.
Next, Pennebaker describes how Martha Francis helped his team develop Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC, pronounced Luke). The demonstration of LIWC begins with an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland. Pennebaker than describes some of the trouble with a word counting algorithm, but then exclaims that it can garner insight into the psychological state of people by noticing how their words reflect their emotions rather than the words changing their emotion.
In the paper, "Language style matching in writing: Synchrony in essays, correspondence, and poetry" by James Pennebaker and Molly Ireland, techniques are developed to analyze the specific word structure of sentences to evaluate their emotional state. To begin, language style matching is relative use of nine function words between any two texts. The authors take note to the fact that it is the intermittent words between emotional words that carry the most impact. They also delve into the fact that people tend to mimic their counter party when communicating. For example, people will match the other person's non-verbal behavior such as posture, eye contact, and even breathing. Even the adaption of one's words occurs when two humans verbally communicate. The goal is for two diverse people to find a middle ground in which they can view the other's ideas on a common stand. In essence, people form to a coordinate structure. The authors then divest energy into the thorough analysis of their research to uphold their thesis. In conclusion, their work is extremely unique and eye opening to help people understand one another on a deeper level.
There are a plethora of non-obvious things to consider about a person. First, I would examine the height at which their camera exists to judge their height. Also, the way in which people walk or transport themselves is a huge indicator of how they carry themselves. For example, whether they are continuously looking at the ground or have their vision upright to indicate a more positive outlook on their daily activities. Not only that, but the way they interact with other people helps unveil whether they are introverted or extroverted. Furthermore, the body language that one conveys accounts for over 50% of how one communicates. This implies that the way in which one's arms swing outward can be a strong indication of their masculinity or dominance. Another solid example of non-obvious clues is the way a person opens a door to imply that they are either right or left handed. Lastly, one can give consideration to items that the subject first notices when walking into a room in order to judge that person's values and what is important to them.
Thus far, all of these examples have been relevant to how one traverses from point A to point B. To gain a better idea of non-obvious things to consider, one would examine the specific actions that a subject is performing. For example, if a subject is purchasing an item, one can learn a tremendous amount about this person by innately analyzing not only the object itself, but also the way in which the person grabbed it or paid for it. All in all, there are an abundant number of non-obvious hints to consider when trying to determine what personality fits with which face, and one must simply pay attention to the details.
The video we created dealt with our group traveling from Rudder tower to Rattler's in the Underground. There were several key points in our group video. First, we would be riding a bike from Rudder tower. This aspect of our video could help other determine more information about us in terms of how we ride the bike (turn signals or none, stopping at stop signs or not, etc.). Also, simple details such as the methodology we lock our bike with could divulge more insight into our own personalities. Second, we would be entering Rattler's and purchasing an item. This portion of the project encompasses the largest implications associated with our identities. One can evaluate the selected item from Rattler's but the other subtle gestures that we each performed reveal much more.
Then, as we proceed back to Rudder tower, a few more considerations could take place. One might question as whether the item went directly into one's pocket or if the item was used or eaten along the way. The route back to the bike is critical to determine what the person is thinking along the way back to the starting destination. As one jumps back on the bike, it becomes critical from a spectators point of view to determine how each person in our group deals with passing other people walking. In conclusion, the video task we laid forth is as simple as it comes. However, if one pays close enough attention to the seemingly insignificant portions of the ride, one can uncover the true personalities of each of our group members.
No comments:
Post a Comment