Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink
By John Bolton
It used to be that you could tell a liar by the fact their pants were on fire. Or so we were told as children. But that's simply not true. Ironically, the person that told me that had not the slightest trace of smouldering to their undergarments.
For many years, psychologists have lionised body language as a window to the soul. It can help you tell if someone's interested in you, and it can help you tell if a neighbouring poker player has a better hand than you and if they will, in mere moments, fleece you out of all your cash and leave you hitchhiking home.
At the recent British Association's Science Festival in Norwich, psychologist Dr Peter Collett explained how studying body language can help you break down the affected smiles of politicians to unearth the pained grimaces lurking beneath them. Gordon Brown has a "flashbulb smile", says Collett, "…if you freeze the smiling you can see the emotions underneath." Tony Blair and George Bush apparently display a variety of idiosyncratic mannerisms when they're lying, anxious or when they want to appear non-threatening. Walking around in blazing Calvin Kleins would surely be a start.
To read more about John or to view more of his articles click here
For many years, psychologists have lionised body language as a window to the soul. It can help you tell if someone's interested in you, and it can help you tell if a neighbouring poker player has a better hand than you and if they will, in mere moments, fleece you out of all your cash and leave you hitchhiking home.
At the recent British Association's Science Festival in Norwich, psychologist Dr Peter Collett explained how studying body language can help you break down the affected smiles of politicians to unearth the pained grimaces lurking beneath them. Gordon Brown has a "flashbulb smile", says Collett, "…if you freeze the smiling you can see the emotions underneath." Tony Blair and George Bush apparently display a variety of idiosyncratic mannerisms when they're lying, anxious or when they want to appear non-threatening. Walking around in blazing Calvin Kleins would surely be a start.
To read more about John or to view more of his articles click here
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