tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post6591215342097504042..comments2024-02-28T02:22:20.886-08:00Comments on homunculus: Lip-reading the emotionsPhilip Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986655706443117158noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-76849908723785585502012-05-08T15:12:54.867-07:002012-05-08T15:12:54.867-07:00I think "Chinese inscrutability" is a We...I think "Chinese inscrutability" is a Western construct - our circumlocution tends to make us just as inscrutable to Chinese people, I believe. Having said that, Chinese people are awesomely, even admirably, good to lying to your face. I say this as a devout Sinophile, and I think my Chinese friends would agree. It's simply a cultural difference.Philip Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09986655706443117158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26741618.post-89568011127174380902012-05-08T09:51:06.591-07:002012-05-08T09:51:06.591-07:00"...native [Chinese] speakers learn to disreg...<i>"...native [Chinese] speakers learn to disregard visual information in preference for auditory."</i><br /><br />I wonder if this is where the concept of 'Chinese inscrutability' comes from?<br /><br />If a language uses regions of the brain that also deal with emotion, it may temporarily put facial expression on hold during speech.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Westerners who use their left hemisphere exclusively for speech, especially 'predigested' speech, are free to use their right hemisphere to manipulate their facial expressions contemporaneously. To the point that we have lost the ability to 'sing' our language, as the facial cues displace the prosody somewhat.<br /><br />Would this imply that Westerners are better at lying to your face, whilst the Chinese would be better at lying on the phone?JimmyGirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01548795180321590463noreply@blogger.com