Hearing

As Dr. Sévigny was telling us a little while ago, listening is not hearing. Listening means that you should actually be taking in the information and processing. Hearing is the actual sense that some of us have through our ears. I've posted about listening before, so I decided to look at hearing today.
A good example of hearing would be sitting in driving school and just keeping your eyes open enough to watch the teacher's lips move.
A good example of listening would be actively taking notes during your multimedia lecture because you just realized that the final exam is worth 40% of your final mark.
But what about this: you're sitting in the student centre having lunch and catching up on some philosophy reading when the gaggle of girls sitting next to you start talking about cute guys sitting around them/you pretty loudly. So it distracts you enough that you actually process what they are saying (and eventually look over to who they're talking about...), but you didn't actively sit next to them to listen to their conversation. Would that be hearing the people next to you talk, or would that be listening in on their conversation?
I always wonder, I mean a person can't live with their headphones on for the rest of their lives, although some people look like they do sometimes...
I can't really make up my mind about what it would be: hearing or listening?
What do you think?

Facial Expressions

On the McMaster campus, I sometimes find myself walking from class to class on my own, and I've noticed that although we only have about 5-10 mins to see other students before we get into class, there is so much that you can tell about someone by just looking at them while theyre also walking somewhere on their own. On more than one occasion I've caught several people mumbling to themselves, or smiling at something they remembered. But that's okay, because I've noticed that I do that too. No matter how much you say you do not talk to yourself, when your walking alone with no company you'll make up your own story to keep yourself company. come on...you know you talk to yourself...
The best thing is when you see someone you know walk by. So you say 'hi' and smile, and then when the passing by is done, you realize your suddenly still smiling, and the next person walking by catches that smile, and that person is probably thinking 'i dont even know you you freak.' And then you realize what you did so you quickly wipe that smile off your face, but by then it's too late, so you start to frown thinking 'o man that person probably thought i was a freak' but then now you're caught frowning at the next person walking by... it just goes on and on.
so the next time you see someone smiling to themselves or even mumbling to themselves, just think: how many times have i been caught doing that?

Also, if you want to catch some good expressions, check this baby out. Even though all he's doing is laughing/giggling away, you can see so many expressions pass through his eyes. at one time i swear i could see him thinking: my parents are crazy but ill laugh along anyways. Baby's have the best expressions because they havent exactly learned to hide them all away like we have...

http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=e566b2b8-fe4d-45b3-988f-ef4f998888f2
ps: if you dont have an account on msn soapbox, use this link: http://www.geekproject.com/ and scroll down a little bit to the 'William Laughing' clip.

(listen)

sometimes it's not just speech we need to listen to...

Interpersonal Relationships

There are very evident and distinct cultural differences when it comes to intimacy between people. For instance, in low-context cultures such as Canada and the US, it is fairly clear that personal space is very important. People are more individualistic and less ‘touchy’. However, in high-context cultures such as Mexico, two people could be standing within centimeters of each other on a bus and that would be normal.
Another issue I found to be fascinating within high-context cultures is their kissing habits. For example, in Egypt the norm for family and friends of the same sex is to kiss once on each cheek upon meeting. Same sex friends even go out holding hands in public and no questions are raised. In Kuwait, men usually kiss three times on the right cheek. In France, a man and woman being introduced for the first time usually go for a kiss on the cheek; however, there are places in France that go for up to four kisses, two on each cheek alternating. This might seem peculiar for people raised in Canada without a high-context culture in their backgrounds. However, as someone who was raised in the Middle East for the first part of their life and then Canada for the second part, it is very interesting to study the different forms of physical and emotional intimacy between humans.
In the same way, studying how the notion of intimacy has changed throughout the ages is very important since it gives us a new perspective on life. The seventeenth century saw a formal kind of intimacy even between spouses (Adler 2006) and the nineteenth century saw the romantic period flourish (Adler 2006). I believe that to some extent the twenty-first century in North America has somewhat returned to the formal model of the seventeenth century (Adler 2006), with relationships occurring mostly on a surface base. However, I agree with Dr. Sevigny’s (lecture on Tuesday October 31st) and have hope that once attained, true physical and emotional intimacy is easier to maintain. Understanding the changing concept of intimacy can help show us that notions we take for granted are not universal and are often shaped by economic and social conditions (Adler 2006).

Works Cited

Adler, Ronald B. and George Rodman. Understanding Human Communication. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.