More PC rubbish. Soon we'll all have to wear brown paper bags over our heads and speak through a gender-neutral, computer generated microphone voice lest someone gets upset or gets an "unfair" advantage.
Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
11–20 of 67 posts
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#12The author completely glosses over a crucial fact: an individual's face is representative of the lifestyle that he or she lives. Fat; thin; tan; pale; bearded; bald. Is your hair buzzed military grade, or does it spill over your shoulders? Do you take care of your skin? Do you wax your eyebrows? Our faces certainly tell some sort of story, but there's more to it than bone structure and brow size.
The entire article is about how bone structure can make a difference about how others perceive us, even if everything else is the same. The first sentence of the article gives a hypothetical of non-identical twins with the same exact lifestyle.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#13This article seems to be talking out the reality that our brains handle the big data of life by generalization, ignoring that in small samples things can be quite different than the group average.
When I see a big, tattoo covered individual I feel more nervous than unmarked, average sized individuals. Having grown up with a sister who eventually majored in photography I know plenty of tattoo'd people who are amazing people and often artistic and creative, but my brain still sends the signals.
We are very likely judged whether we like it or not by appearance, but I feel there is plenty we can do about some of it. I take this article to remind myself to own my appearance and what is says and be conscious that it may be deciding things for me.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#14Wait, we judge people by their looks, more often than not subconsciously?!
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#15The author completely glosses over a crucial fact: an individual's face is representative of the lifestyle that he or she lives. Fat; thin; tan; pale; bearded; bald. Is your hair buzzed military grade, or does it spill over your shoulders? Do you take care of your skin? Do you wax your eyebrows? Our faces certainly tell some sort of story, but there's more to it than bone structure and brow size.
Absolutely. I'd also add that your face is a reflection of your personality and average emotional temperature.
Your "neutral expression" will, over many years of muscle memory and habit, settle into some particular arrangement. People who tend toward bitterness, mistrust, anger, or anxiety - will look it, and inspire vague anxiety in anyone who deals with them. If, on the other hand, your neutral expression broadcasts poise, optimism, peace, wit, or good humor - the subtle good will that this generates will eventually add up to a significantly better experience of humanity. In this way, the way we look can be self-reinforcing.
In a way, we all get the face we deserve.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#16I suppose applicants with faces judged as competent and dominant (and looking like Zuckerberg, etc) tend to come out on top after video pitches in startup incubator applications.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#17I really don't like the sound of this, just how far does it need to go? The end result is everyone being exactly the same as everyone else right? Same DNA even? But somehow if you made that society they would find a way to tell each other apart, and make snap judgments. In the past, this “face-ism” (as Olivola and his colleagues call it) was considered an unfortunate fact of life. But the more they come to understand…
While wanting to wipe innate human tendencies borders on dangerous, it's not a bad idea to be conscious about it.
We should not want to begin proscribing people's behavior in minutiae --we have enough laws telling you what you can't do, but modifying psyche to counter these tendencies can cut both ways.
Imagine people suing for someone not liking them because they had mentioned something about their appearance.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#18Couldn't help but be reminded of Ted Chiang's "Liking What You See: A Documentary" http://www.ibooksonline.com/88/Text/liking.html
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#19More PC rubbish. Soon we'll all have to wear brown paper bags over our heads and speak through a gender-neutral, computer generated microphone voice lest someone gets upset or gets an "unfair" advantage.
The article didn't suggest that people with more "desirable" faces do anything to prevent an unfair advantage. It merely brought to attention a universal prejudice, with a suggestion that people, especially those making decisions wrt employment, be aware of the prejudices, so that they don't unfairly disadvantage candidates, and so that they don't dismiss someone who might be a better candidate solely on the basis of their looks.
Re: Others may be unconsciously judging your features in ways you don't realise
#20The author completely glosses over a crucial fact: an individual's face is representative of the lifestyle that he or she lives. Fat; thin; tan; pale; bearded; bald. Is your hair buzzed military grade, or does it spill over your shoulders? Do you take care of your skin? Do you wax your eyebrows? Our faces certainly tell some sort of story, but there's more to it than bone structure and brow size.
Absolutely. I'd also add that your face is a reflection of your personality and average emotional temperature. Your "neutral expression" will, over many years of muscle memory and habit, settle into some particular arrangement. People who tend toward bitterness, mistrust, anger, or anxiety - will look it, and inspire vague anxiety in anyone who deals with them. If, on the other hand, your neutral expression broadcast…
Aside from tending towards certain emotions, I'd wager that urban vs. rural residents probably have different default facial expressions.
I've heard people refer to "Moscow face" (though oddly, not "New York face"), where people's expressions are blandly neutral, tending towards negative - it's a way of adjusting to living in a large urban center.
I'm not sure what my default face while I'm out in public is, but I've definitely got a certain expression I've learned to put on when I'm walking by people trying to sell me something, beg me for something, recruit me for something. I've had people start walking towards me, and then instantly back away when I slip that particular mask on.
It's pretty great, but I'd wager that it's an adaptation that someone living in Farmersville, TX doesn't need to use very often.