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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Gestures, Perception and Meaning

Long followed gesture as alternate interface, is it far beyond that?

How the Brain Links Gestures, Perception and Meaning in QuantaMagazine

Neuroscience has found that gestures are not merely important as tools of expression but as guides of cognition and perception.  By Raleigh McElvery    Contributing Writer

Remember the last time someone flipped you the bird? Whether or not that single finger was accompanied by spoken obscenities, you knew exactly what it meant.

The conversion from movement into meaning is both seamless and direct, because we are endowed with the capacity to speak without talking and comprehend without hearing. We can direct attention by pointing, enhance narrative by miming, emphasize with rhythmic strokes and convey entire responses with a simple combination of fingers.

The tendency to supplement communication with motion is universal, though the nuances of delivery vary slightly. In Papua New Guinea, for instance, people point with their noses and heads, while in Laos they sometimes use their lips. In Ghana, left-handed pointing can be taboo, while in Greece or Turkey forming a ring with your index finger and thumb to indicate everything is A-OK could get you in trouble ..... "

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