I am reading an interesting article in July issue of GQ Magazine about the Boston Marathon bombing. The Article, The Finish Line, by Christopher Churchill follows some of the individuals that were there on that fateful day. One person, Jeff Bauman, was one of the victims, but he also provided a description of the bomber to the police. That description was a crucial piece of evidence in identifying the bomber.
Before the bomb went off, the bomber was standing next to Jeff in the crowd. The bomber looked right at Jeff and did not look away until Jeff did. Jeff thought that the man looked like he was not having any fun. Jeff said in the interview that he thought, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this guy.” He was so right.
The eyes are critical in non-verbal communications. They
telegraph a lot of information. I remember when I was a company commander in the Army; I had to disciple a soldier for punching another soldier. When I asked why
he did it, he said because he could tell from the other soldier’s eyes that he was about to punch him, so he punch him first in self-defense. The eyes can
communicate disrespect, anger, fear, jealousy, friendship, love, and other emotions. We learn to read and understand non-verbal communications as babies. We become quite good at reading non-verbal signals before we learn to speak. As we grow older, we forget how to read non-verbal
communications.
We still read the non-verbal clues in the first few seconds when we meet someone. We take an instant liking or dislike to people-a gut reaction. Then we tend to dismiss those gut reactions. Often those initial instincts are reverting to our childhood when we could read the non-verbal signals better. Later we pay the price for not listening to our instincts. Hopefully, the price will not be as steep as they were for Jeff when he lost his legs.
Before the bomb went off, the bomber was standing next to Jeff in the crowd. The bomber looked right at Jeff and did not look away until Jeff did. Jeff thought that the man looked like he was not having any fun. Jeff said in the interview that he thought, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this guy.” He was so right.
The eyes are critical in non-verbal communications. They
telegraph a lot of information. I remember when I was a company commander in the Army; I had to disciple a soldier for punching another soldier. When I asked why
he did it, he said because he could tell from the other soldier’s eyes that he was about to punch him, so he punch him first in self-defense. The eyes can
communicate disrespect, anger, fear, jealousy, friendship, love, and other emotions. We learn to read and understand non-verbal communications as babies. We become quite good at reading non-verbal signals before we learn to speak. As we grow older, we forget how to read non-verbal
communications.
We still read the non-verbal clues in the first few seconds when we meet someone. We take an instant liking or dislike to people-a gut reaction. Then we tend to dismiss those gut reactions. Often those initial instincts are reverting to our childhood when we could read the non-verbal signals better. Later we pay the price for not listening to our instincts. Hopefully, the price will not be as steep as they were for Jeff when he lost his legs.
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