Body language says a lot. When we make eye contact and take the time to see our surroundings, we exude confidence and we feel secure.
Certain body language is a reaction to our emotional state. One of the worst emotional states is shame. When someone feels shame, their shoulders hunch in, their head hangs and their gaze goes downward.
It occurred to me today after seeing a woman texting on the street, but not noticing the phone, that she looked like she was experiencing "shame." As someone that is on their phone often, this worried me.
What if I'm constantly taking on a body language that communicates shame simply by texting? What if muscle memory now makes me more quick to feel shame?
What are we doing to ourselves with this technology? I think there is likely to be very real physical and psychological ramifications to our current habits.
Time will tell. What do you think? Am I way off here? lil -Have you considered this before? You seem self aware enough to have recognized this as a thing worth avoiding.
Those are not the same tells, even though the heads are both pointing downward. The head angle is different, but more importantly: look at the edges of the mouth. If you take the head-tilt out of each picture and imagine you are looking straight on at each person, you would see two different faces. The person in the first picture has no tension in his lips. His eye lids are half down, allowing him to be in thought. The person in the second picture has tension in his mouth and open eyes. He is in an active mode, as if he were speaking what he is texting. His focus is in the device, not inside his head.
You know what, that's a good point/question. There is a man that walks his dog through our neighborhood and reads a book as he does it. Honestly, it looks off putting for this reason (body language). That said, I have no idea how or if this has any lasting effect on us. Maybe it was a crazy/silly observation. But the majority of people (certainly young people) spend vastly more time texting/consuming information on phones than they do reading. Good point though.
pseydtonne makes a good point. Someone texting is engaged in an activity. Of course, observers are free to make whatever interpretations they like about the emotional states of strangers. They just have to be careful not to grow too fond of their made-up stories. Psychological: Instead of shame, people seem to have less shame and be completely oblivious to people listening to private conversations or all sorts.I think there is likely to be very real physical and psychological ramifications to our current habits.
Physical Ramifications: For example, the guy in your picture is about to go flying into the street. As someone that is on their phone often, this worried me.
Be aware of your surroundings and practice good posture whenever you can.