Right now, I am reading a book called "Quirkology; How We Discover The Big Truths in Small Things" by Richard Wiseman, Ph.D.. In Chapter 2, one of the sections in titled "The Mona Lisa, Freshly Guillotined Heads, and the School Sisters of Notre Dame" and discusses smiles. It was a fascinating read.
Now, what's so fascinating about a simple facial expression? Well, I think we all know that there are different kinds of smiles and the main catigorization that can be made is between real and fake smiles. Wiseman demostrates something that I think all those who wish to deceive and those who wish not to be deceived should know. Chances are, you already know this. Genuine smiles go to the eyes, fake smiles are just the mouth. But it is not something in the eyes themselves, as some writers describe (ex. her eyes shone with joy). Looking only at the eyes, and not the skin around them, will tell you nothing. The real trick to deciphering a smile is the wrinkling around the eyes. (Maybe that's why the elderly seems happier to some people, their smiles look real.) A genuine smile gives the smiler crow's feet and often increased bagging/folding of the skin between the eyebrows and eyes as the eyebrows move lower.
There you have it. The simple and effective trick to know when a smile is genuine or fake. A great way to know if someone really likes you or is being nice to take advantage of you! Or maybe just to decipher someone's mood.
Are there other easy trick to knowing when a person is not being entirely honest?
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I don't know if you've ever heard of the TV show "Lie to Me", but its all about that kind of stuff. The basis of the show is Dr. Lightman, who reads people's facial expressions, in order to determine the truth. One of the things he investigates is whether facial expressions are truthful, such as the smile example you talked about. There are tons of other examples, for every type of emotion.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it, I'll try to watch it some time.
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