Tag Archive for: human emotions

Inside the Situation Room

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P050111PS-0210 by The White House
P050111PS-0210, a photo by The White House on Flickr.

Here is a fascinating photo of the Situation Room in the White House as top government officials receive updates about Osama bin Laden in live time.

Their faces reveal a lot of information, and what is so interesting is they are all seeing the same thing, yet are giving us such different reactions. If you don’t know who the people are, click on the photo above, and in the caption, their names are broken down in order so you can see who is who.

Joe Biden is just taking information in with not much of a reaction in this split-second photograph.

President Obama is INTENSELY immersed in what he is watching.  I would say if he could talk at this point, he would tell you he has great respect for what he saw.  I think he was taken back by what he was watching or hearing, and perhaps has a healthy apprehension about just how good they were, if you will. I see notable amount of apprehension in his face.

Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb gives us nothing as he is looking down.

Denis McDonough is just taking it all in without a lot of expression.

Hilary Clinton is shocked at what she sees, and is clearly having a hard time with what is in front of her.  We often cover up our mouths when we are having a hard time processing what we are seeing and find it shocking.  There are other reasons for this behavior as well.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is feeling a pride.  He is getting satisfaction out of watching this.

Admiral Mike Mullen is humbled in this photograph.

Advisor Tom Donilon is watching with confidence about what is going on.

Chief of Staff Bill Daley is intensely watching and absorbing what he is seeing.  I think there is a slight pressing of the lips here. It could have several meanings.

Tony Binken is trying to get a good look and Audrey Tomason doesn’t appear to be able to see, though she is listening.

John Brennan has furrowed brows which is suggestive of dislike, concern or distress.

John Brennan is pretty neutral — just taking it all in.

With all photos, it is a split second in time.  While it does give us information about how people are feeling in this instant, it can and does change every second.   It’s just a window, a snapshot, and sometimes people aren’t even aware they are feeling these emotions when they express them.

What Emotions Do you See Here?

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Thanks, SG, for sharing this. I will share my thoughts in the comment section below.

I Survived

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This is a fascinating video of a victim recounting her story of being stabbed and what sounds like being buried. She smiles throughout the recollection.

I watched a victim on Oprah last week recount her story and smile, too. It was noteworthy.

Do you know what it means?

What expressions do you spot in this video?

Predicting a Person’s Propensity for Anger by Looking at Faces

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Adriano at Anger Managementphoto © 2009 Dario | more info (via: Wylio)
Here is interesting research out of the Brock University in Ontario Canada as written by ScienceDaily.com:

“Psychologists Justin M. Carré, Cheryl M. McCormick, and Catherine J. Mondloch of Brock University conducted an experiment to see if it is possible to predict another person’s propensity for aggressive behavior simply by looking at their photograph…The photographs were very revealing: Volunteers’ estimates of aggression correlated highly with the actual aggressive behavior of the faces viewed, even if they saw the picture for only 39 milliseconds.”

What do you think of this study? Does it open your eyes to thin-slicing?

I believe this is the core of my ability to be able to thin-slice people’s personalities from their facial expressions and facial features. 

I’ve been looking into research on this, and what scientists are discovering is that people are able to do this, and do it amazingly accurately on other attributes as well.  Are you surprised?

Here is a link to the research abstract for the science discussed in the Science Daily article.

Loss of Emotional Control

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Eyes for Lies reader, Karon, sent this interesting video to me about a basketball coach at Holy Family University who knocked down a player and called it an “accident”.  Lucky for the player, the incident was videotaped. I think most people will see this was not an accident, and the coach is trying to save his skin. He knows his job is at risk and rightfully so.

The guy knocked down, Matt Kravchuk, is upset because he doesn’t believe the the coach’s apology,  and he is right to not accept it, if you ask me.  I think most people will agree.  Furthermore, he wants the school to take action against the coach as well.

The apology by the coach, John O’Connor, is interesting.  He keeps repeating that what happened was “an accident” and that he didn’t “intend” to do what he did.  John has convinced himself of this, though it is clearly not true. He is in absolutely denial he has a problem.  Sure he didn’t plan this, but John’s problem is that he had an emotional outburst where he momentarily lost control and lashed out and in that moment, he had a choice and he chose to act inappropriately. He wasn’t able to stop himself from reacting physically when he was angered. That’s scary–especially from someone who should be a role model to our children. 

All people make mistakes, but to not own up to what truly happened, I don’t think he should be forgiven.  I would be much more likely to accept an apology from someone who said, “Listen, I lost my cool. It was wrong. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”  Humility goes a long way…

Instead he wants us to believe he making his team better players.  Give me a break!