If Looks Could Kill - Graphic Art & Design

On the recent topic of micro-expressions…

“Specially trained security personnel” will be watching passengers for “micro-expressions” that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country. These agents, who may literally hold your fate in their hands have been given a lofty, Orwellian name: “Behavior Detection Officers.”

Airports are torture for the impatient (me) and are not conducive to mental stability, with existing security lines, switched gates and delays.

How does one discern which pissed-off, anxious fuck trying to find their way is a menace? I’m not in a good way at airports, nor does anyone else appear to be from the behavior I’ve witnessed.

It’s not even a precise science, subject to perception. This is just odd.

(Source)

Angry men are admired in the workplace while volatile women are seen as incompetent, unless she expresses a just cause for her fury. Even then, she’s not viewed nearly as capable as a similarly dispositioned man. (Source)

Reading subtle clues in faces can guide the brain, resulting in unconscious warnings, a new study suggests. I’m convinced this is what creeps me out about many ppl, conflicting micro-expressions, insincerity in general. (Source)

Article on the similarities between rats and humans. Interesting bits:

• They laugh when tickled, especially when they’re young
• Rats dream as we dream, in epic narratives of navigation and thwarted efforts at escape
• Look forward to good sex, “They wiggle and paw at their ears, hop and dart, stop and flash a come-hither look backward.”
• One study showed that rats accustomed to good times tend to be optimists, while those reared in unstable conditions become pessimists.

(Source) - NYTimes free signup required

Brings this documentary, on animal emotion, to mind.

1) Your short-term memory has a max capacity of seven.
2) Chartreuse is the most visible color.
3) Your subconscious is smarter than you are.
4) You have two nervous systems.
5) Your brain is awful at probability.
6) Your memory isn’t great either.
7) You can perceive depth with one eye.
8) Long-term memory shuts down during sleep.
9) You have an instant playback feature.

Details: (Source)

This describes how men adjust their vocal pitch, lower it when they perceive themselves as superior to another male they are speaking to.

I remember being little, hearing my father address strangers in this bizarre lowered voice that was out of line with his general speaking. I never knew it was a pissing contest, calculated or not.

On a similar primal note, this describes why gentlemen prefer blondes: “blonde hair is a marker of youth as it normally turns to brown as a woman ages.”

“Your class, Payne says, determines everything: your eating habits, your speech patterns, your family relations.”

Humor by Class:
• Humor in poverty = People & Sex
• Middle Class = Situational
• Privileged: Social Faux Pas

If marrying into poverty, your spouse may view you as a possession to be protected. She advises a person to try & see the positives in this, which I find interesting - I cannot fathom the finer points of being owned. :|

Accusations are flying against the author, of Marxism & stereotyping, but I think she is offering ppl an advantage, to better relate to others, to go further.

How could anyone deny that social class affects one’s station in life? I’ve seen ppl hindered by this, both in college & the corporate world.

(Source) - free signup required