Eric Crenshaw
Gerry Dickerson
Andy Bleemel
Instructor: Dr. Tietjan
12-11-98
For our group project we decided to talk about human gestures, why we do them, and exactly what are human gestures. Gestures are a major part of human nature. While we are just walking down a hallway, though we may not realize it, we may give several different gestures to people around us. The Webster's New World Dictionary defines a gesture as a "movement of a part of the body, to express feelings, ideas, etc." So like I said about walking down a hallway, several gestures may be used such as an eyebrow raise, waving at someone, or just a nod of the head.In our group project, we wanted to point out some of these gestures, and explain why we use them. We did this using the power point presentation technique. We took pictures of ourselves to give examples, by using a special camera that was connected to the computer. This camera took instant images of our poses, which we displayed as gestures, and then we put that picture on our slide, so the class could get a first hand look at some gestures that humans use.
We used some of the more common gestures, such as the eyebrow raise. Many of us don't realize how often we use this gesture. It is mainly used to acknowledge someone. Of course there are other uses as well. If you flash the eyebrow several times rapidly it can be used as a flirting device. Or maybe a simple flash of the eyebrow is used to show someone you understand what they are talking about.
A simple handshake is a very good gesture, which especially in business, is used often. People will use handshakes to greet someone, which gives them a feeling that they are welcome, or maybe when someone is leaving to show appreciation to another. Another time it is used is to close a deal, telling that person "nice doing business with you", without having to say it. It is one of the most common gestures used to make a person feel welcome and comfortable.
Another gesture, which is not quite as pleasant, is to give someone the "birdie", or to "flip them off." This is usually used when someone is angry, the person would raise their finger, and flash it to them in disgust. It is supposedly means, "fuck you". It is a very effective form of sign language that can really arouse anger in the other person.
In our power point presentation we were asked to use a graph from excel. We decided to do a survey type graph. What we did was drive down Bardstown road and give people the "birdie" to see what kind of reaction, or gestures we could get from them. We used ten males and ten females, of whom we had no acquaintance with, we charted their individual reaction to our gesture of the middle finger. Our results came up as follows:
Well as you can see, there is definitely a reaction from most people due to a simple gesture of giving "the birdie".
In conclusion, gestures are often used, though we may not know, or realize it. They definitely have meaning. If humans were without gestures just think about how boring, and dull everyone would look. Gestures simply add color to each individual, and helps each one of us express our ideas and feelings about certain things, or situations. It's a very large part of human nature.