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Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts

Virtual Interviewing, Body Language,

Companies are taking virtual interviewing to a new level with Avatar virtual world New Life Interviewing. IT and international companies are using virtual worlds for interviewing.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/09/first-impressions-second-life.html
Friday, September 28, 2007
First impressions, second life
I blogged last week about people working in virtual worlds. But I must admit I didn't think about how the ritual of the job interview might look in a virtual world.

In fact, global consultancy Accenture has already started using job interviews in Second Life to recruit real-life employees. That's what Darren Nicholson at Rowan University, New Jersey, US, told me. He's been studying how teams of IT workers can collaborate using virtual worlds, as an alternative to email or instant messaging.

Since May, two large job fairs attended by multi-national companies including Microsoft and Accenture have been held and, as a result, Accenture spent three days interviewing candidates inside the virtual world at the end of August.

To me, it sounds a little pointless. Unless they were using the still-buggy voice chat in Second Life, it would be much like interviewing using instant messaging. I'd consider the avatars a distraction from the content of a conversation, but Nicholson thinks they make an important contribution:
"When I prepare students for interviews with big companies I advise them how to use the behaviour recruiters are looking for. With an avatar you are even more in control. Are you wearing power red? Are you rearing dark blue? There are so many social indicators that we use in real life that are being transported into virtual universes."
But Nicholson doesn't think virtual interviewees will be able to game interviews more easily. Interviewers will be ready for it, he says. "It could work in their favour - I think you can learn a lot about people by the avatar they create and the way it acts."

Nicholson predicts the IT industry is where the practice will become common first. Teams of software developers are already work together from different parts of the world so it makes sense, he says.

The first place this will be tried on a large scale is probably Beijing. The city government did a deal in May with the producers of a virtual world called Entropia, with a view to shifting thousands of the over-crowded municipality's workers into offices in a virtual city.

Tom Simonite, online technology reporter
Labels: virtual-reality, virtual-worlds

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Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://pattiwood.net/. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

John Cusack's First Foray Into The World Of Tweeting.

I just did a read of John Cusack’s first foray in the world of tweeting for Fox News.com

I will put up the link to the article when I get it from Fox News. I have my rough notes below.

Coincidentally, I was working on the techno impressions chapter of my new book when I got the request. I told the journalist that most tweeters speaking on political or social issues tend to make strong declarative statements. They start their sentences with a capital I; they put lots of exclamation points at the end of their tweets and use caps to shout out what they feel. John is not so self assured. The few sentences he starts with an I he uses a little I. It's clear in a content analysis that he is not sure how he should act in this medium. He starts a tweet sharing his opinion, but, in more than half of the tweets I analyzed he stops in the middle of the sentence to ask if he is following the rules or saying things correctly. This is particularly interesting when you compare it to how he is in camera interviews. I have done many nonverbal reads on Johns' TV interviews. He is calm, self assured, intelligent and articulate and often witty. In his tweets he does not use capital letters, or follow the rules or spelling grammar or punctuation. The spelling seems phonetic and the vowels inside words or incorrect phonetic spelling and letters inside words being mixed up are mistakes I see in people, who are dyslexic. That is personally, very easy to recognize as I have dyslexia. It is interesting that he chooses to ignore the rules here but cautious with his words.

1. was that who it was?? RT Shawn Hannity sings 4 Cusack...http://youtu.be/r5KeGccP9Jk . filmed live at a satanist celebrity cult death center.2:33 AM Sep 2nd via TweetDeck

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2. doesnt that guy work in politics? or was it entertainment?10:42 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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3. whats been going on guys? whhttp://youtu.be/r5KeGccP9Jk10:40 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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4. freindship tour rolling through santa monica today..12:15 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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1. ummm.. was sbeing sarcastic about the rules- i'm irish -- dont do well with arbitrary authority1:54 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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2. i want to be a good boy for them all-- did i miss something? any other rules i should follow?1:48 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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3. hope twipolice tell me what' sok comming out myown little twi-feed....no jokes no CAPS-- no tonaly quesytionabe insights into politcis1:47 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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i would sadly agree- a bit overstated- but sadly true-RT @jeffjfyke: Gore Vidal says US has a one-party govt with two right wings.1:42 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

1. the gop establishment has been in a shamfull cycle of fear mongering for years in my opinion..1:27 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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2. ron paul on everything - but i think he has character in many ways.. depends on the peroson.1:26 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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3. nothing... i may not agre with RT @RambobeatsRocky: John, I've watched your movies for 25+ years...what do you have against conservatives?1:25 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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4. and the flag..? i know were not supposed to make jokes about anything - now that america has turned back to the lord..1:23 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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without changing context.. am i for or against ? how about a celebrity death cult center? i will join as pennance to the folks who own god1:22 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Deception Detection of Text, or Language or Word Choice in Texting.

Deception Detection of Text, Language and Word Choice in Texting.


The article below discusses some of the methods currently used and describes a new product for text analysis. Communication Experts call in content analysis or rhetorical analysis. Psychologists, law enforcement and the criminal justice system call it statement analysis or forensic statement analysis.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
www.freshpatents.com/Method-and-system-for-the-automatic-recognition-of-deceptive-language-dt20070111ptan20070010993.php

Method and system for the automatic recognition of deceptive language

Abstract: A system for identifying deception within a text includes a processor for receiving and processing a text file. The processor includes a deception indicator tag analyzer for inserting into the text file at least one deception indicator tag that identifies a potentially deceptive word or phrase within the text file, and an interpreter for interpreting the at least one deception indicator tag to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file and generating deception likelihood data based upon the density or distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file. A method for identifying deception within a text includes the steps of receiving a first text to be analyzed, normalizing the first text to produce a normalized text, inserting into the normalized text at least one part-of-speech tag that identifies a part of speech of a word associated with the part-of-speech tag, inserting into the normalized text at least one syntactic label that identifies a linguistic construction of one or more words associated with the syntactic label, inserting into the normalized text at least one deception indicator tag that identifies a potentially deceptive word or phrase within the normalized text, interpreting the at least one deception indicator tag to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the normalized text, and generating deception likelihood data based upon the density or frequency of distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the normalized text. (end of abstract)
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from a U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/635,306, filed on Dec. 10, 2004, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) to the detection of deception in written texts.

[0003] The critical assumption of all deception detection methods is that people who deceive undergo measurable changes--either physiological or behavioral. Language-based deception detection methods focus on behavioral factors. They have typically been investigated by research psychologists and law enforcement professionals working in an area described as "statement analysis" or "forensic statement analysis". The development of statement analysis techniques has taken place with little or no input from established language and speech technology communities.

[0004] The goal of these efforts has been twofold. Research projects, primarily conducted by experimental psychologists and management information systems groups, investigate the performance of human subjects in detecting deception in spoken and written accounts of a made up incident. Commercial and government (law enforcement) efforts are aimed at providing a technique that can be used to evaluate written and spoken statements by people suspected of involvement in a crime. In both cases, investigators look at a mix of factors, e.g. factual content, emotional state of the subject, pronoun use, extent of descriptive detail, coherence. Only some of these are linguistic. To date, the linguistic analysis of these approaches depends on overly simple language description and lacks sufficient formal detail to be automated--application of the proposed techniques depends largely on human judgment as to whether a particular linguistic feature is present or not. Moreover none of the proposed approaches bases its claims on examination of large text or speech corpora.

[0005] Two tests for measuring physiological changes are commercially available--polygraphs and computer voice stress analysis. Polygraph technology is the best established and most widely used. In most cases, the polygraph is used to measure hand sweating, blood pressure and respiratory rate in response to Yes/No questions posed by a polygraph expert. The technology is not appropriate for freely generated speech. Fluctuations in response are associated with emotional discomfort that may be caused by telling a lie. Polygraph testing is widely used in national security and law enforcement agencies but barred from many applications in the United States, including court evidence and pre-employment screening. Computer voice stress analysis (CVSA) measures fundamental frequency (FO) and amplitude values. It does not rely on Yes/No questions but can be used for the analysis of any utterance. The technology has been commercialized and several PC-based products are available. Two of the better known CVSA devices are the Diogenes Group's "Lantern" system and the Trustech "Vericator". CVSA devices have been adopted by some law enforcement agencies in an effort to use a technology that is less costly than polygraphs as well as having fewer detractors. Nonetheless, these devices do not seem to perform as well as polygraphs. The article Investigation and Evaluation of Voice Stress Analysis Technology (D. Haddad, S. Walter, R. Ratley and M. Smith, National Institute of Justice Final Report, Doc. #193832 (2002)) provides an evaluation of the two CVSA systems described above. The study cautions that even a slight degradation in recording quality can affect performance adversely. The experimental evidence presented indicates that the two CVSA products can successfully detect and measure stress but it is unclear as to whether the stress is related to deception. Hence their reliability for deception detection is still unproven.

[0006] Current commercial systems for detection of deceptive language require an individual to undergo extensive specialized training. They require special audio equipment and their application is labor-intensive. Automated systems that can identify and interpret deception cues are not commercially available.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Motivated by the need for a testable and reliable method of identifying deceptive language, the present method detects deception by computer analysis of freely generated text. The method accepts transcribed or written statements and produces an analysis in which portions of the text are marked as highly likely to be deceptive or highly likely to be truthful. It provides for an automated system that can be used without special training or knowledge of linguistics.

[0008] A system for identifying deception within a text according to the present invention includes a processor for receiving and processing a text file, wherein the processor has a deception indicator tag analyzer for inserting into the text file deception indicator tags that identify potentially deceptive words and/or phrases within the text file. The processor also includes an interpreter for interpreting the deception indicator tags to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file. The interpreter also generates deception likelihood data based upon the distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the text file. The system may further include a display for displaying the deception likelihood data. The processor may further include a receiver for receiving a first text to be analyzed, a component for normalizing the first text to produce a normalized text, a component for inserting into the normalized text part-of-speech tags that identify parts of speech of word associated with the part-of-speech tags, and a component for inserting into the normalized text syntactic labels that identify linguistic constructions of one or more words associated with each syntactic label. The normalized text including the part-of-speech tag(s) and the syntactic label(s) is provided to the deception indicator tag analyzer.

[0009] In one embodiment of the system according to the present invention, the deception indicator tag analyzer inserts the deception indicator tag into the normalized text based upon words or phrases in the normalized text, part-of-speech tags inserted into the normalized text, and syntactic labels inserted in the normalized text. The deception indicator tags may be associated with a defined word or phrase or associated with a defined word or phrase when used in a defined linguistic context. Also, the interpreter may calculate a proximity metric for each word or phrase in the text file based upon the proximity of the word or phrase to a deception indicator tag such that the proximity metric is used to generate the deception likelihood data. The interpreter may also calculate a moving average metric for each word or phrase in the text file based upon the proximity metric of the word or phrase such that the moving average metric is used to generate the deception likelihood data. The calculation of the moving average metric for each word or phrase in the text file may be adjusted by a user of the system to alter the deception likelihood data as desired by the user.

[0010] A method for identifying deception within a text in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of: receiving a first text to be analyzed; normalizing the first text to produce a normalized text; inserting into the normalized text at least one part-of-speech tag that identifies a part of speech of the word associated with each part-of-speech tag; inserting into the normalized text at least one syntactic label that identifies a linguistic construction of one or more words associated with the syntactic label; inserting into the normalized text at least one deception indicator tag that identifies a potentially deceptive word or phrase within the normalized text, interpreting the at least one deception indicator tag to determine a distribution of potentially deceptive word or phrases within the normalized text; and generating deception likelihood data based upon the distribution of potentially deceptive words or phrases within the normalized text.

[0011] While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the components of a system for one embodiment of the invention.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of text in one embodiment of the invention.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how text is marked for display after analysis for deception.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an alternative for how text is marked for display after analysis for deception.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Overview

[0016] A core notion of the method is that deceptive statements incorporate linguistic attributes that are different from those of non-deceptive statements. It is possible to represent these attributes formally as a method of linguistic analysis that can be verified by empirical tests.

[0017] The method begins with certain widely accepted techniques of corpus linguistics and automated text analysis. The deception detection component is based on a corpus of "real world" texts, for example, statements and depositions from court proceedings and law enforcement sources which contain propositions that can be verified by external evidence. Linguistic analysis is accomplished by a combination of statistical methods and formal linguistic rules. A novel user interface interprets results of the analysis in a fashion that can be understood by a user with no specialized training.

[0018] A method in accordance with the present invention is implemented as an automated system that incorporates the linguistic analysis along with a method of interpreting the analysis for the benefit of a system user. A typical system user may be a lawyer, a law-enforcement professional, an intelligence analyst or any other person who wishes to determine whether a statement, deposition or document is deceptive. Unlike polygraph tests and similar devices that measure physiological responses to Yes/No questions, the method applies to freely generated text and does not require specialized or intrusive equipment. Thus it can be used in a variety of situations where statements of several sentences are produced.

[0019] The system builds on formal descriptions developed for linguistic theory and on techniques for automated text analysis developed by computational linguists. The analysis advances the state of the art in natural language processing, because deception detection is a novel application of NLP. In addition the system compensates for the inability of humans to recognize deceptive language at a rate little better than chance.

Talking On The Cell Phone While Driving Can Make People Dislike You. First Impressions

Does talking on the cell phone while driving effect your impression?
New research shows that divers talking to people on the cell phone talked more than they listened. And used simpler words. This is so interesting. It makes me wonder if this is one of the behaviors that is pushing us to more narcissistic behavior. We are becoming more "ME" focused.
Read one of the quotes then an article on the original research below.

"Conversation analyses revealed some interesting patterns, according to the researchers. When driving tasks got more complicated, drivers appeared to modulate the complexity of their speech, as measured by syllables-per-word. Drivers also talked more when using cell phones, perhaps, the authors speculated, because they were trying to control the conversation to avoid using the mental resources required to really listen to the other person.

Meanwhile, passengers took an active role in supporting the driver, often talking about surrounding traffic. That shared situational awareness could be helpful to the
Drivers Distracted More By Cell Phones Than By Passengers
Science Daily (Dec. 1, 2008) — Drivers make more mistakes when talking on a cell phone than when talking to passengers, new research shows.


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See Also:
Mind & Brain
•Perception
•Intelligence
•Schizophrenia
•Brain Injury
•Language Acquisition
•Memory
Reference
•Negotiation
•Hearing impairment
•Adult attention-deficit disorder
•Jet lag
This finding addresses the common question about whether driver distraction comes from cell-phone use specifically or conversation generally.

Even when drivers used a hands-free cell phone, driving performance was significantly compromised. "Cell phone and passenger conversation differ in their impact on a driver's performance; these differences are apparent at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels of performance," the researchers wrote.

The study, led by Frank Drews, PhD, of the University of Utah, analyzed the driving performance of 41 mostly young adult drivers paired with 41 friends who served as conversation partners. Both sexes were equally represented.

In each of three experimental conditions (conversation with hands-free cell phone, conversation in the car, or no conversation), one person in each pair was randomly selected to be the "driver" and the other the conversation partner.

Drivers used a sophisticated simulator that presented a 24-mile multi lane highway with on- and off-ramps, overpasses and two-lane traffic in each direction. Participants drove under an irregular-flow condition that mimics real highway conditions -- with other vehicles, in compliance with traffic laws, changing lanes and speeds. This context required "drivers" to pay attention to surrounding traffic.

In the cell-phone conversation condition, drivers' conversation partners were at another location. In the in-car conversation condition, partners sat next to their (simulated) drivers. In both cases, conversation partners were told to tell one another a previously undisclosed "close call" story about a time their lives were threatened.

All drivers were instructed to leave the simulated highway once they arrived at a rest area about eight miles from the starting point. Partners were told the driver had this task. The driving sequences took about 10 minutes to finish.

Drivers talking by cell phone drove significantly worse than drivers talking to passengers. The cell-phone users were more likely to drift in their lane, kept a greater distance between their car and the car in front, and were four times more likely to miss pulling off the highway at the rest area. Passenger conversation barely affected all three measures.

The authors said the problems could have stemmed from inattention "blindness," or insufficient processing of information from the driving environment. Cell-phone users may also have found it harder to hold in working memory the intent to exit at the rest area.

Conversation analyses revealed some interesting patterns, according to the researchers. When driving tasks got more complicated, drivers appeared to modulate the complexity of their speech, as measured by syllables-per-word. Drivers also talked more when using cell phones, perhaps, the authors speculated, because they were trying to control the conversation to avoid using the mental resources required to really listen to the other person.

Meanwhile, passengers took an active role in supporting the driver, often talking about surrounding traffic. That shared situational awareness could be helpful to the




Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Is Talking On Your Cell Phone Bad For Your Relationship?

This research article simply states a distracted listener is more likely to make mistakes that could harm a relationship.

Talking On Your Cell Phone While Driving May Be Hazardous To Your Close Relationships
Science Daily (June 15, 2010) — Warnings about the dangers of distracted driving while using a cell phone are prevalent these days, but cell phone use while driving may also put family relationships in jeopardy, says University of Minnesota professor Paul Rosenblatt.


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See Also:
Mind & Brain
•Social Psychology
•Relationships
•Perception
Matter & Energy
•Transportation Science
•Technology
•Virtual Environment
Reference
•Mobile phone radiation and health
•Anger management
•Mobile phone
•Hearing impairment
The same factors that make using a cell phone while driving more hazardous -- longer reaction times and impaired attention -- can also make family communication in that situation more risky, says Rosenblatt in an article in the current issue of Family Science Review. The article, authored by Rosenblatt and graduate student Xiaohui Li, provides a speculative theoretical analysis on the topic. Rosenblatt is a family social science professor in the university's College of Education and Human Development.

"If we assume that the relationship risks involved in talking on a cell phone while driving are similar to the driving risks -- both tasks involve divided attention and distraction -- we can develop ideas about how a family relationship may be impaired," Rosenblatt says in the article.

For example, studies have indicated that cell phone use while driving leads to slower reaction times on the road. This could translate to the driver's cell phone conversation as well.

"A delay in the conversation could be a problem if the person (spouse or partner) on the other end of the conversation interprets the delayed reaction as an indicator of ambivalence, of not having a ready answer or of hiding something. This all leads to upsetting the partner," Rosenblatt says.

And, what if the driver misses important details of the conversation? This could lead to misunderstandings and more hard feelings, he says.

"In general, cell phone usage while driving might lead to missed relationship stop lights, slow reactions to dangerous relationship circumstances, loss of control of one's part of the interaction, and interaction mistakes that could lead to conflict, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and possibly even serious damage to the relationship," Rosenblatt says in the article.

The partner who is not driving might be worried about the driver's safety and may cut a conversation short so the driver can concentrate, but the driver might interpret that in a negative way.

In addition to the relationship problems created by talking on cell phone while driving, a number of problems arise that both people have when one of them is driving while talking on a cell phone.

The lack of visual cues including gestures, facial expressions and posture creates challenges. Poor cell phone reception and the noise from the automobile and the road can all contribute to misunderstandings, he says.

In the article, Rosenblatt explores five hypothetical examples of possible relationship problems that could arise when a driver is talking with a family member via cell phone. The examples he explores include the partner asking the driver to run an errand; a family member calls with good news; a family member calls with bad news; arguments over the phone and apologies over the phone. Each of the scenarios can be wrought with frustration and misunderstanding.

Most relationships can manage the added difficulties related to cell phone use.

"However, for couples in which things have been so difficult that they both are considering ending the relationship, problems arising from a difficult phone conversation, may push their relationship to the tipping point," Rosenblatt says.



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Are Facebook Profiles Honest?

New research on Facebook profiles indicate that people reveal more of their true personalities than one might guess.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=honesty-online
When you scan someone’s profile, you probably expect a little fudging: an overly flattering photograph, a generously phrased blurb in the “about me” section. A study in the March issue of Psychological Science, however, suggests that Facebook users do not skew their profiles to reflect idealistic visions of themselves.

In the study, research assistants at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Mainz in Germany viewed the Facebook profile of a study participant, then guessed how he or she would score on the “big five” common personality measures used in psych?ological research: extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness and conscientiousness. Next they compared the results based on Facebook with the actual personality test scores from the profile owner and the results from four of his or her “well-acquainted friends,” who also rated the person’s personality traits. The research assistants were successful on four of the five measures—all except neuroticism, which is notoriously to gauge in general.


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional The Body Language Expert Web- http://www.PattiWood.netI have a new quiz on my YouTubestation. Check it out!YouTube- YouTube - bodylanguageexpert's Channel

Voice and Emotion

In fact, unlike other aspects of language prosody is universal. Emotional intonations are similar across all cultures. (Look at research done by Azia-Sadeh) I believe that some of the problems that people are having today with social interactions via email, text, Facebook and other similar mediums in the lack of the the access to Prosody and with the cell phone conversation that loss of quality sound makes it more difficult to read all of paralanguage. I have the new Iphone. And though I tell my friends if my Iphone could cuddle on the coach I would date it, the truth is I find the sound quality poor and have experienced frustration listening to people on the Iphone and not being able to read them accurately. In fact, I find I am interrupting friends asking if they are "still there." because I can't hear one of the most important factors of turn taking, breathing.


When I coach executives on public speaking skills we discuss the importance of communicating emotions. Reading notes or PowerPoint slides or any kind of list such a bullet pointed lists on a slide automatically make your voice go monotone.Creating a unemotional voice, boring and because emotions are one of the strongest links to memory, unmemorable!

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional The Body Language Expert Web- http://www.PattiWood.netI have a new quiz on my YouTubestation. Check it out!YouTube- YouTube - bodylanguageexpert's Channel

Checking messages while you are with someone else, techno rudeness and body langauge.

I am rarely cynical in my blogs, In fact, I have been called a Pollyanna optimist many times. I also am truly blessed with the most incredible friends on the plane but if you have read my blog you know that. I say all this before I share a cynical story about a wonderful. I know it doesn't take me off the hook, but it does give the story a bit of build up..
So I am out with a friend for lunch the other day. A friend I have not seen for month I might add and five minutes after we sit down for lunch she is checking her Blackberry for messages from the guy friend she just had her real lunch with. ( She apologizes for eating ahead of our lunch she said she would have dessert with me. ) She continued to check her blackberry throughout lunch. I love my friend very much she is an amazing woman, but she is so brilliant her mind needs to be occupied at all times. So she often goes into what I call the techno haze. For me the unspoken subtext of checking text messages in front of friends is: "Somewhere else there is someone who I care about more than you. I want to know what they have to say more than what you have to say to me now." The idea of being present in the moment is disappearing faster than you can say, "Hey, I've got to take this call..." We stop being in the moment. We stop being present wit each other. We devalue our current situation, the friends and family around us, our surroundings and setting, for something going on somewhere else. Somewhere that seems far more interesting that what is right their in front of them.
I see it when I go into speak to an audience now and it makes me crazy. Audience's use to talk and interact with each other before the program started. I am not sure, but I think that is why people have meetings and conventions so people can share ideas and experiences, with the people in the room. Now everyone heads are down. People don't have their hearts open they have their laptops open. They don't shake hands they do hip checks of the blackberry's. They don't lean into their seat mate to say hello, they pull out their cell phone to take a call. They are not connecting to the people in the room they are somewhere else. Certainly they don't look like they are in that room to learn. I am so glad that I teach what I do the way I do. I have my audience's up out of their chairs right away, now I realize that if they have any gadgets they would fall off in the first audience interaction exercise. What do you think about the techno haze?