How often to people use body language/ facial expressions?

Page 1 of 2 [ 18 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

hollowmoon
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 28 Feb 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 215

04 Apr 2019, 8:02 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
hollowmoon wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
The very fact you ask that question in the original post shows a huge disconnect between you, and the rest of the human race, including most folks on the autism spectrum.

Facial expression are like breathing. Folks don't think about it. And when they do its to conceal, or suppress, facial expressions. Not to make them.

If you are indeed a rare individual how has to consciously make facial expressions, and doesn't need to repress expressions, then you should consider becoming a professional poker player.


How do they know which muscles to use? And how do they know that their making the correct expression? Isn’t it easier to make no expression at all?


We - the rest of the human race who are not you- do not "know" how to make facial expressions. That's why they are called "expressions". Your face involuntarily expresses your emotion.

Which is easier? Breathing? Or not breathing? Breathing is doing something. Not breathing is "easier" in a sense.

But most animals and humans are constructed in such a way that breathing is automatic, and holding your breath takes effort. That's how making facial expressions is for the rest of us in the human race.

We feel an emotion- and the expression just appears on our faces. If we are angry we get a frown. Happy a smile. ETC. Just like animals do it. Except human faces are able to express more and more complex emotions than non human animals. But its instinct like with animals. Its all automatic. And essentially involuntary.

But in social situations folks do modify, or suppress, or fake, facial expressions. And that's when the conscious thought comes in. And even that is mostly emotion based. Like at a funeral you might be aware that are supposed to have a solemn look on your face so you force yourself to get into solemn emotional state (even if the dead person is your rich uncle whom you hardly knew and he is leaving you a million dollars so you're actually happy that he is dead- you pretend its your pet kitten who died to get the facial expression right). You don't really think about "which facial muscle" you're contracting. I am being a tiny bit tongue in cheek here, but that's the idea.


So its unnatural for most people to have a blank expression?



hollowmoon
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 28 Feb 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 215

04 Apr 2019, 8:05 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
hollowmoon wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
The very fact you ask that question in the original post shows a huge disconnect between you, and the rest of the human race, including most folks on the autism spectrum.

Facial expression are like breathing. Folks don't think about it. And when they do its to conceal, or suppress, facial expressions. Not to make them.

If you are indeed a rare individual how has to consciously make facial expressions, and doesn't need to repress expressions, then you should consider becoming a professional poker player.


How do they know which muscles to use? And how do they know that their making the correct expression? Isn’t it easier to make no expression at all?


We - the rest of the human race who are not you- do not "know" how to make facial expressions. That's why they are called "expressions". Your face involuntarily expresses your emotion.

Which is easier? Breathing? Or not breathing? Breathing is doing something. Not breathing is "easier" in a sense.

But most animals and humans are constructed in such a way that breathing is automatic, and holding your breath takes effort. That's how making facial expressions is for the rest of us in the human race.

We feel an emotion- and the expression just appears on our faces. If we are angry we get a frown. Happy a smile. ETC. Just like animals do it. Except human faces are able to express more and more complex emotions than non human animals. But its instinct like with animals. Its all automatic. And essentially involuntary.

But in social situations folks do modify, or suppress, or fake, facial expressions. And that's when the conscious thought comes in. And even that is mostly emotion based. Like at a funeral you might be aware that are supposed to have a solemn look on your face so you force yourself to get into solemn emotional state (even if the dead person is your rich uncle whom you hardly knew and he is leaving you a million dollars so you're actually happy that he is dead- you pretend its your pet kitten who died to get the facial expression right). You don't really think about "which facial muscle" you're contracting. I am being a tiny bit tongue in cheek here, but that's the idea.


When do people have a "blank relaxed" expression? I have a blank expression 100% of the time is this bad?



naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,873
Location: temperate zone

05 Apr 2019, 5:35 am

Its not morally wrong to have a blank facial expression all of the time.

But in one situation- when you're in a conversation with someone- folks usually get animated faces. And when conversing with someone and your face is not animated then it throws folks off because its odd, and because it fails to convey information about how you are reacting to the person.

Probably I, and most folks, probably do have rather blank faces most of the time (though I have never really thought about it before). I myself rarely notice other people's facial expression when they are just walking around. But if theyre talking with me, or when I notice them talking with others, you key in to their expressions. And this is all done automatically and unconsciously for the most part.

So its fine to have a blank face when just walking around. But when you are engaged in conversation -that's when body language- including facial expressions-come into play.

Apparently you lack the animal instinct to have spontaneous facial expressions. So apparently for you showing facial expressions is like what speaking Spanish is to me- something you have to deliberately think about. So I don't know what to tell you. I have never meet, heard of, nor even read about, a person like you before who has this condition that you seem to have. You might want to consult with a therapist about this.

A blank expression is fine ….most of the time. But not fine when you're in conversation. Thats the only way I can bottom line it.