Communication

This week we were asked to watch a television show that we do not normally watch, and watch it first without sound while trying to make sense about the characters and their relationships based on the nonverbal behavior we observe. We were to then watch the same show again with the sound turned on and evaluate our first impression.

For this assignment I chose to watch an episode of the Big Bang Theory. I have never watched this show before. During the first few minutes of watching the show with the sound off I initially thought that some of the characters might be friends from the way they were interacting with each other, such as talking animatedly, touching each other, and the hand gestures they used. Regarding two of the characters, I initially thought they were just friends until they started kissing each other passionately. I was incorrect in my assumption that one of the girls switched cars during a road trip because of a fight with one of the other girls. I thought they were having a fight based on their facial expressions, eye rolling, and later avoiding each other's gaze. Later, towards the end of the episode, it is clear that this group of friends is not getting along well because of the facial expressions and gestures they make during a symposium where they are supposedly presenting on the interdisciplinary interactions of science and society. By the end of the episode, it seems they are all angry with each other.

When I watched with the sound on, my impressions of what was going on were mixed between correct and incorrect. I was correct in that the characters knew each other, and some were friends, but it appears that some are more than friends and some may just be colleagues. I was correct when I was able to discern arguments, but was incorrect in whom they involved, especially when one of the girls switched cars during the road trip. I would have never imagined some of the topics they argued about (some inappropriate, so I will not detail them). I was generally correct when I judged someone as being embarrassed too. This was because they generally turned flushed or hid their faces. 

I think that if I had watched a show I knew well I would not have been so attuned to the nonverbal communication of the characters, because I would have assumed that I knew what was going on. I would already know the relationships among the characters, and therefore would have watched the episode without much thought. Therefore, I can say that in general, when interacting with people who are less familiar to me, I am more attuned to nonverbal communication than I am with people who are very familiar to me, because I assume I know what the other person is thinking or feeling if I know them well, and I will tune out both verbal or nonverbal communication that does not fit with my preconceived notion. It is important to be mindful of these cues, with all people you interact with, because you may not know what the person is thinking or feeling just because you know them well. This can lead to miscommunications and damage to personal or working relationships. I think we tend to be more mindful of people we don't know, because we don't want to offend them. We need to keep this in mind even with people we are very familiar with.