Is body language a valuable tool or a type of prejudice?
Posted by Answers Community I once took a class in body language. The instructor said:
(1) We should learn to control our body language so that we can consciously use body language that indicates we’re telling the truth.
(2) If we don’t learn to control our body language, we might unconsciously use liar’s body language even when we’re telling the truth.
(3) We should learn to read body language so we can tell whether other people are telling the truth.
Does anybody else see the contradiction here? An untrained person who’s telling the truth might be using liar’s body language. A trained person who’s lying might be using truth-teller’s body language.
I think we should study body language, but only so that we can catch our own unconscious prejudices that are formed based on other people’s body language. We need to judge people on their words and actions , not on their twitches and gestures. As for controlling my own body language to re-assure body language readers, I would rather just avoid associating with people who are more interested in my gestures than in my words.
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I completely agree with you. There are some things that we should just let be. We can’t let ourselves become so wrapped up in analyzing ourselves and other people.
If you’re having a conversation, you can’t be analyzing so much how either of your bodies are moving because it would distract you from the conversation – being so analytical kind of kills it.