Non Verbal Communication

Each and everyone of us has our own interpretation of things which are built over time, mostly through experiences. At times, we submit to our stereo-typical mindsets where limits and rules are followed. Walking along the sidewalk while two girls interlocking hands stroll pass may trigger certain thoughts such as 'couple' or 'lesbians' almost instantaneously. some may cringe at the thought of it even though they may just be two homosexuals with a strong friendship. girls tend to hold hands at a very young age as females generally tend to be more intimate than males. Apart from walking about hand in hand, hugging amongst the female population is also relatively common.

Watching teenage girls engage in conversation while holding each others hands should not seem any more disturbing as to children walking along the beach or at playgrounds hand in hand. Stereotyping these groups of people only narrows one mind, oblivious to the benefits of such strong and intimate acts of friendship.

Most people have a perception of which only couples are involved in such intimate acts. However, on a friendship level, it is proven that such gestures are healthy as 'touch' allows the build up of values such as kindness as well as to allow one another to feel loved and cherished. Friends also use 'touch' to show how they care for one another and it also symbolizes security, knowing that someone is there for you. Words can be comforting but a simple hug will go a long way.

Everyone of us have been subjected to many forms of sterotypes; however, it is important to embrace each individual as themselves and not attempt to change their behaviours just to suit the needs of the society.

Interpretation

Despite similar situations and events, it is possible create different outcomes by different groups of people. Communications occur naturally in our daily lives. With the advancement of techonlogy over the decades, communicating with one another is made possible even when the other party may not be present at that point in time.

The birth of the Short Message Service (SMS), email and instant messaging (e.g MSN) allows communication between two parties via a process called texting. It is basically the modern form of snail mail where other person receives the desired message almost instantaeously. However, with such convinence comes unforseen trivial issues. These messaging systems then turn into routine daily conversations, to a point where it starts to replace face-to-face conversations. Unlike talking to a person physically, these messaging process does not allow emotions to be felt or seen. Words are replacing feelings thus, how the person truly feels becomes lost in cyberspace. A person typing 'HAHAHA' may be laughing either sincerly or sarcasticly. This would be impossible to interprete as the reciever is unable to hear the speaker's tone. Non-verbal communication plays a crucial role to a person's attempt of protraying his feelings and as such, misinterpretation of a subject occurs. Arguments may arise as both sides may not know if the other is joking or serious. Words are made of alphabets stringed together to form meanings but it does not display emotions.





















To make situations worse, limits for facial expression may also cause the other party to wrongly judge a person's feelings in a discussion. Facial expressions are basically known to give honest opinons of how one truely feels. Eye contact is important in communication as it allows an intimate connection to be form, speaking far more than words itself. The lack of such visual aids in instant messaging would as such, allow more misinterpretation opportunities. One would also be unable to tell if a person feels angry or joyful when the other tries to emphazize his or her feelings with the usage of exclimation marks. What the reciever may interprete though, would be the sender's sudden outburst of emotions, which may not necessarily be accurate.

With that, despite the convinences of instant messaging, it too has its limitations. Misinterpreting messages may not seem severe on the surface but has the ability to be deadly on a much higher level when lives are involved or at stake. A trial case of falsely accusing an innocent victim due to misinterpretation would be an example. Hence, it is important to elimate possibilities to such occurances to the best of one's ability to prevent such misfortunes.

Perception

I was reading about the hijack of a Mexican airline in the Today newspaper this morning and realise that what can seem a just cause for some can mean a criminal act to others. The hijacker in this case was a 44-year-old preacher who had a bomb and threatened to blow up the plane. He claimed that God spoke to him to warn people of an upcoming earthquake. Many terrorist groups share similar logic of divine missions to carry out their terrorist attacks, be it the September 11 attacks, or the Bali bombings.
We view such actions as criminal, intolerable and highly threatening due to the massive lost of lives and destruction to the economy and cities, our world in general. When captured, these terrorist are deemed guilty and either executed or jailed quickly to prevent them from carrying out their next terrorist attacks. But leaders of terrorist groups view such acts as heroic in the name of religion. The mastermind of the September 11 attack said he hope to be executed to allow him, in his belief, to become a martyr. Wanted terrorist Osama bin laden said in May 1998 before the twin towers in New York that "Our primary mission is nothing but the furthering of this religion".
The actions of men can often have two different perspectives that is extremely different. Both see the importance of their own mission and judge the other as wrong. This is a key reason why clashes occur and the rise in extreme religious beliefs in our world today is threatening to cause an outbreak of war and disputes.