Chapter 5 Question 3

I like the topic of Territory and the need to give everyone a certain amount of personal space. "Like birds and mammals, humans need to maintain uniform distances from one another and to occupy and defend territories." Having your personal space violated can be extremely uncomfortable and disrespectful regardless of you know the person or not. She talks about how personal space is connected to being safe and ready for any dangerous situation that can occur. As far as my personal space, I like to know that I am safe when I am out in society so familiar settings lets me focus on my surroundings with more ease.

Chapter 5 Question 2

Some of the differences in nonverbal messages that I have picked up from other cultures is personal space, hand shakes and eye contact. "They allow us to express certain emotional themes that are hard to describe verbally" ( Trenholm 111). Personal space has limited boundaries when people are on a subway, bus, busy street or in a after hours venue in Argentina. People will stand right next to you if not leaning on you because it is something that never has been an issue in their culture. I America we are not a culture that like to have our personal space violated be a stranger we don't know anything about. Shaking hands with people can be universal but in the middle east men in Jordan men will Shake your hand for the whole conversation like you are two strangers giving honesty and respect to each other. In Argentina only foreigners shake hands everyone else hugs and gives a kiss on the cheek like Italians in Italy. Eye Contact is common in conversations and glances at people to make acknowledgment to another. Argentina has been a country that accepts eye contact as more of a respect issue but people love their three hour lunches and people watching where eye contact is something that people do a lot of.

Wk 8 Q 1

Because nonverbal messages can be ambiguous, they are open to misinterpretation. Have you ever been wrong about the meaning of someone’s nonverbal message? Describe what happened. How can people increase the accuracy with which they interpret nonverbal messages?
Nonverbal Communication is a huge part of my day. Im constantly taking public transportation around town which gets packed with people going to work or to another part of the city. I was in the subway where someone was playing a guitar and singing for donations. I was bored so I pointed towards the musician explaining to my friend sitting next to me that the singer playing with the guitar has a cool guitar and I would like to own one like that soon. Given that i made a gesture towards him, he decided to move to our side of the subway thinking we would like to hear his music. He was wrong, I did not want him to play near me because it brought a lot of attention near me. I am a foreigner, and the attention was not allowing me to feel like I can sit back and relax. If I did not use any hand gestures then I do not think he would have came over to our side. As for the singer, I he waited for another expression that I made, then I think he would of known that I was not trying to act interested in all but he did not wait for more messages.

Week 7 Question 3

Who can improve on attention skills? I know I can use some tips to prolong my attention span when listening to someone talk. Its nothing personal and I know we all do it from time to time so keeping myself focused would be fantastic. Ms. Trenholm talks about keeping oneself focused on a conversation or speech. I agree that staying positive, focusing on the main points and avoid being distracted from my surroundings will help increase my attention and retain more from the sender. Acting interested is very important since if I was to show any loss of interest through looking around or looking bored then i might as well have spoken out and said, " Lets change the subject because I am over this topic". I often don't realize this and today I can remember looking another direction through a surprising incident when someone was talking to me. Reading chapter three just might have improved my conversations with people and its one step towards becoming a great speaker.

Week 7 Question 2

I believe men have a different language than women when it comes to messages and conversations. As a society we are comparing and following some sort of flow that helps social norms form. I believe women will take conversations and considerations into more thought and meaning where men will carry conversations with less preparation but the same amount of confidence in the message. I tend to often correct myself because what i am delivering could have been sent a little bit better than it could have. I think women will mostly excel in careers than men like shrinks and counselors because they can listen, think about the message then give a solid response. Women have the patience advantage over us but i think men are very solid on persuasion and other areas when it comes to issues like closing business deals with other clients.

Week 7 Question 1

Is it possible to perceive others without in some way judging or categorizing them? Is so, how? If not, how can we make judgments we do make more fair?

I didnt know what side i was going to answer since people are often hard to read depending on the kind of lives we live. I am a White guy from California living in Argentina until about three weeks before the end of this semester. People in Argentina are so friendly to strangers and often will carry a random conversation if you are sitting or standing next to them. Judging someone is something that we all do naturally. Some judge people to their race or cultural background like if someone was from a redneck town or from the ghetto. Many ways to judge people but some people like have learned through experiences to embrace my thoughts about judging people. When I see someone I decide if they are approachable, harmless and friendly regardless of where they are from or what race they are. Has anyone seen Blood Diamond with Leonardo Di Caprio? When he lives in Africa he acts just like an African citizen speaking the say they do acting just like them not better or much different. Relating oneself to your surroundings is the best way to change judgments and change the social barriors that we face and battle in our present day.