Tag: behavior

Why I Don’t Have Free Will (and Neither Do You)

You are free to make choices, but you have no freedom in the matter.

Sam Harris presents this idea in his 2012 book, Free Will. Harris argues that we’re all products of our genes, our luck, and our experiences.

Free Will is an Illusion.

Continue reading “Why I Don’t Have Free Will (and Neither Do You)”

Keep ’em at Arm’s Length

Imagine the last argument you had. You were convinced of your position. There’s no way the other person was right.

They thought the same about your argument, of course.

I’d be willing to bet at least one of you crossed your arms in front of yourself to block the very ideas being spoken.

Arms are one of our most expressive forms of communication. They’re used to build trust and rapport, as we’ll see. They’re used for defense. They’re used to communicate effectively at work.

Imagine the college professor, using her arms to focus our attention to different parts of her presentation. Lawyers use their arms to emphasize their points. Traffic cops use their arms to direct the flow around them.

We are naturally inclined to watch people’s arms — so much that illusionists and pickpockets take advantage of this to misdirect our attention.

In addition to emphasizing our speech, sudden changes in our arms also communicate our limbic reactions to our surroundings.

Image "Put your hands up in the air" by Thomas Leuthard, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Image “Put your hands up in the air” by Thomas Leuthard, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

Continue reading “Keep ’em at Arm’s Length”

I can’t hear a word they say:
Decoding Non-Verbal Communication

Hello #PRL reader! Today we’re starting our next PRL book, Joe Navarro’s What Every BODY is Saying.

Joe Navarro's book teaches you to decode body language.
Joe Navarro’s book teaches you to decode body language.

Awesome book. After understanding the concepts in What Every BODY is Saying, your eyes will be opened to these non-verbal behaviors around you, all the time. Continue reading “I can’t hear a word they say: Decoding Non-Verbal Communication”