[ExI] abandon all body language {8-]

[Josh Cowan]

Thank you Spike, that was the first full body laugh I've let out today. 
BTW, I view my laughing as a "good" thing.

Josh

snip:
>
spike wrote:

> Oh, OK cool, thanks Vaj.  I have never been worth a damn at reading 
> people's
> body language.  That's why I play chess instead of poker.  In spite of 
> being
> good at mentally calculating probabilities, I am an abysmal suckster at
> sensing normal human people's intentions.  I am totally non-blackberry 
> at
> that skill.  It is almost like having negative ESP, or finding oneself 
> at a
> convention of ESP-havers when one possesses only the traditional five
> senses.  Most uncomfortable.  When someone at a party proposes a poker
> match, as soon as the first card is dealt, I hand over all my chips and
> throw off my clothes, just to save time.  The guests are puzzled and 
> amused
> by this behavior.  Or so I am told.  I am beginning to suspect that 
> they
> bring the poker cards just to witness my reaction.
>
> In a weak attempt to compensate for this tone-deafness to others' 
> thoughts
> and intentions, I listen carefully to what people actually say.  As any
> normal person can easily guess, this usually leads to trouble and
> misunderstanding, being as normal people seldom actually say what they
> really mean.  This characteristic of humans is found in every culture 
> and
> language across the globe.  Perhaps this is why I am more comfortable 
> and
> effective in Second Life than in... what is here called?  First Life?
>
> This technique of listening to peoples' actual words fails even worse 
> in
> situations that rely heavily upon nonverbal communications.  I have 
> managed
> to master a few of the nonverbal cues, but I confess to understanding 
> only
> the most broad and general ones.  For instance as when a young lady 
> shrieks
> and flees in terror, this is a bad thing.  If she goes for her pepper 
> spray,
> this is also a bad thing.  If she uses it on me, this is worse.
>
> This has led me to certain insights that others do not have however.  
> For
> instance, few are aware of the wide variation in the effectiveness of 
> the
> different brands of sprays, in both debilitating power and in flavor.  
> I
> should do an article for Consumer Reports, from the unique perspective 
> of
> the actual "consumer" of the product.
>
> To conclude this line of thought is my observation that there are two 
> major
> differences between here and Second Life.  In Second Life, one can fly
> without the aid of mechanical devices.  And they don't even have pepper
> spray there.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
>
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