Social Engineering Blogs

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Global Gestures … Don’t Get it Wrong

In my recent talk Social Engineering Like In the Movies – The Reality of Awareness and Manipulation I talk about how important it is to understand body language, especially in the right context. I also mention how even though generally once you have a baseline alot of body language is global, but some gestures can catch you out.

With this in mind I thought I would share something with you that I stumbled across this week. Its a book about global gestures and a guide to what they mean. Now dont get to excited, I have not yet bought the book, and now sure I will has the feedback isnt great, however I did find out the writers have released an iPhone App, and its only 0.69 pence, so gotta be worth a punt :)

So is it any good? Well I think its not to bad actually, and for the price its very good. If nothing else its interesting to look and the different meanings, and you can tell it what country your in and it will bring up some common gestures.

I would like to see alot more gestures to be honest, as it is some what limited (perhaps if the book is the same its why people have not given it a high rating) but perhaps they will build upon this. The main thing is I dont think there are many other resources with this info, so why not check it out.

Check out some screen grabs from the application to see what your buying.


Dont Get Me Wrong
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How Often Do You Lie?

We all now know (especially if you read our blog frequently) that we lie everyday.  Most of our lies are white lies and harmless enough or are they?

According to Dennis Merritt Jones, a Huffington Post author, keynote speaker and spiritual mentor, some of those white lies are harmful and holding us prison.

In his article, “You Lie More Often Than You Think“  he suggests that we are conflicted between what we really think or want and our desire to not risk the disapproval of others.

Dennis describes an assignment he once gave to his students in a relationship class.  He required them to go one week communicating exactly what they were thinking and feeling to those they came in contact with such as their family, spouses, friends and even strangers.  The exercise revealed that many people are challenged in their ability to be honest.

He also points out that Buddha taught that attachment is at the root of all suffering.  This can mean attachment to anything:  a person, a job, a relationship, exercise, acceptance etc.  Saying ‘No” to someone can be done without harm to you or the person who is requesting something of you.  Just remember when you say “no”, it is not what you say but how you say it.

He goes on to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The only sin that we never forgive in each other is a difference in opinion.”  His advice, ‘Explain to them [the person asking something of you]  that you are not rejecting them, only their request.  Know who you are and be free.’

The article goes on to ask these important questions:

Are you free to have a difference of opinion with others and express it without fear?  Can you say no without fear? And do you offer others the same freedom to say no to you without sending them on a guilt trip?

So, what are your answers?  Are you truly free in your relationships?

Charles Darwin and Emotions

As The Irondequoit Post reports, nearly 150 years ago Charles Darwin used photographs to study how humans use their face to show emotions.

Today researchers at Cambridge University use the power of the internet, videos and the technology of the 21st century to update Charles Darwin’s experiments. They believe the results could help them develop emotionally-aware computers capable of understanding their users’ emotions.

Research over the past several decades has documented seven universally expressed and recognized facial expressions of emotion: happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, contempt and disgust. This idea about universal emotions started earlier than you might think: Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) shared his ideas about the face and emotions in a book he wrote later in life, “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” (1872). Darwin thought that all mammals showed emotion reliably in their faces.

If you are interested in Darwin’s work, check out http://www.darwin200.org/.