Tag Archive for Crease

Eye Size And Neoteny

by  • March 5, 2013 • 0 Comments

Science shows that women who have neotenous characteristics like round faces and big eyes tend to illicit protective feelings in others.

Science shows that women who have neotenous characteristics like big eyes tend to illicit protective feelings in others.

All children are born with a small nose, round chubby cheeks, soft skin, big eyes that are set low on their faces, and a big round face. We call these features “neotenous” as they remind us of characteristics found near birth. As early as the 1940’s it was found by researchers that these features make infants appear cute and lovable and increase the likelihood of eliciting care behaviour from parents. Even cartoon characters directed at children take up similar morphology. If you’ve ever compared Mickey the famous mouse to a real life mouse, you will note the difference in ratios their eyes hold. Real mice have very tiny eyes when compared to a creature that is much more beloved.

Studies show that women who have big round eyes are seen as more attractive a trait that goes across cultures and ethnicities. Thus, the preference for the neotenic condition also persists throughout adulthood. The studies also found that a “halo effect” surrounds women with big eyes and that we naturally feel that they are warm, caring, honest, naïve, kind, agreeable, sociable and trustworthy. Mature faces with small facial features, on the other hand, elicit the opposite set of characteristics. We see people holding these more adult-like traits as physically strong, dominant, competent, experienced, independent, shrewd, and in control. Obviously, either condition can be advantageous depending on whether one wishes to be lead, or one wishes to lead. However, what the study does reveal is that neither condition is up to our willful choice, but rather has been decided for us through our inherent traits.

A very popular surgery for Asian women is to create the double eyelid which is called “blepharoplasty.” Asian people lack the fold or eyelid crease and so their eyes are narrowed and oval in appearance. The surgery adds a second fold or crease in the eyelid from an eyelid without a crease, producing a rounder westernized eye. This cosmetic surgery is the most popular among Asian women, even more so then breast augmentation showing just how strong neoteny is rooted in our nature.

Baselining Versus Innate Actions

by  • March 5, 2013 • 0 Comments

A 'true smile,' where the corners of they eyes crease, is difficult to fake

A ‘true smile,’ where the corners of they eyes crease, is difficult to fake

There are some key body language gestures which are mentioned throughout the book that don’t need to be compare to a baseline as they tend to be innate and not learned. These gestures will give us clues as to whether actions are currently on their natural baseline or are as a result of some other underlying stress. Some things to consider when formulating a baseline includes a catalog of how often a person gestures and which direction their eyes stare when they are thinking and analyzing (can be an indicator of creative thought or recalling as we shall cover in a later chapter), how do they act when they are successful and what do they do when they are stressed? It is difficult and probably unnecessary for me to offer help in establishing baseline techniques since it’s a natural process that we all do daily. However, the take home message has more to do with protecting ourselves from thinking that all gestures in body language are universal and ubiquitous across all people. This book will help determine cues that fall in and around the baselines of the people around you and provided educated guesses as to their meaning, but this is not to say that each cue means the same thing for everyone.

A final word on proper establishment of baselines is to place most emphasis of a person when they are relaxed or when they are in a normal mood and state. Don’t baseline someone when they are getting ready to go on stage to speak in public or if they are going through a divorce, or have had a recent death in the family. Their body language will be misleading and uncharacteristic. Definitely take culture and intuition into your baseline, but avoid things like projecting and making assumptions. Assumptions clog our ability to see what is really happening because we are putting our thoughts and feelings which we have inside ourselves on someone else. Our life history and experiences do play some purpose when we read people, but they can’t be the dominant force, so don’t let your biases control how you read people. Keep in mind too that almost every other person will look at body language naively. They will think that “A” means “B”, when in fact it might mean “C”, “D” or nothing at all. As an aside, you might want to be careful about using body language to influence others, since your signals might be misread or simply go unnoticed altogether.

So the message here is, just because so and so does this or that, it doesn’t mean one hundred percent this or that! Compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges and him or her to his or her baseline! This will produce a much more accurate read.