Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Chapter 5 - Question #2

It is true that in different cultures that a nonverbal message will be interpreted differently. But there is a culture that is left out in these analyses. Different generations perceive messages differently as well. The middle finger to a teenager is a playful sigh of saying the “f” word. They do not take it seriously among their group of friends. Whereas if you “flick” someone off who may be from the baby boomer generation it will be perceived as a huge insult. I jut thought that this was an important aspect to mention as well

Back to the original question about regional differences. I took a cultural nutritional class to satisfy my Upper GE last semester and we studied all different regions around the world. I was very intrigued by how in Asian cultures the way chopsticks are placed is a sign of the chef. If they are sitting strait up in the rice it is a sign of death and a huge insult to the cook. Also if you slurp your soup it is a sign of a very hearty meal. This aspect is seen as rude in America.
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2 comments:

  1. CommeleonOctober 8, 2009 at 7:42 PM

    Hey Kolby good point! I know it's not a nonverbal example but I always see the generation gap between me and my dad in the slang that he says. It's kind of interesting how both nonverbal and verbal codes can change over the span of one generation.

    I had a hard time thinking of examples for this prompt but your example about the chop sticks and slurping soup reminded me of a lot of things that I learned from my Chinese friend that is different from what I'm used to. For one thing, the culture his family comes from is very superstitious. If you drop your chopsticks it's a sign of bad luch but if you drop them on Chinese New Year it's ten times worse! However, if I was eating at my house on Jan. 1st and happen to drop my fork it would be no big deal... it's interesting how nonverbal codes don't always translate.

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  2. GCLOctober 8, 2009 at 8:28 PM

    Hello Kolby,

    Your post was entertaining to read, especially because I am Asian and I was unaware about the symbolism behind how we hold chopsticks. On the other hand, I was aware about slurping soup as a way to show that the meal was satisfying and find myself slurping soup to this day, which drives my Caucasian husband nuts! =). As you mentioned, it is interesting to see how certain nonverbal communication cues and actions have changed meaning as the years pass because our culture is changing. In addition, I find it interesting and also amusing how each culture has a different way of non-verbally communicating to each other. Another example of a cultural difference I came across is how in the United States, we will usually greet someone, especially in a business context, by shaking hands; however, in some Asian countries, they will bow instead of shaking hands. I think for the most part, other foreign countries are understanding when a tourist may not know all their communication rituals but sometimes a violation of their non verbal communication cues can have dire consequences which is why it is important for us to be open to learning how other cultures practice communication.

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