I’ve read almost all of what Mike Caro has published on tells, and yes undertsanding body language is a very effective way of being able to deduce the intentions of your fellow man.
I’m mainly concerned with the science for poker. I must say it does tend to help my wallet grow to healthy sizes. Caro is dead on in pretty much all of what he says, many of these tells are exlusive to poker, the science is very applicable to everyday encounters as well.
I love the subject and have a good book on it that’s a fun read. I also have an interesting but less credible book on Chinese face reading. I will post them later after I look through my library.
The one thing to remember about body language is that it’s always a clue to follow up on and not a fact.
Anyway, it’s great to talk to different types of people. When I was your age there was no internet, so this is a good thing.
When I was 17 the same subject fascinated me also. It still does.
I thought it would be powerful to be able to tell what another is thinking just by observing the subtle details of their movements, voice tone and expressions or to be able to know someone by noticing how they move or what they wear or what they drink or eat or what words they prefer to use.
I became quite good at it, I think. But be careful what you wish for.
When one begins noticing these subtle details he can never become blind to them.
Some of the things told, in this manner, are far too honest and brutal than one might suspect. Human interactions are mostly based on pretence and hypocrisy.
Most women are experts in this reading of body language.
Good point there.
I agree with everyones post concerning body language. But Satyr, Id have to say I quite enjoy having an idea what people are thinking, even if it is brutal. Its allowed me to understand, how fucked up we really are. But more importantly, one has to consider the circumstances that produce these fucked up personas. Makes for a lot of compassion instead of spite, which will if adopted, invariably produce the same results you’ve noticed.
Theres a good book I read a few years back. Its called Reading People: How to understand and Predict Their Behavior… by Jo-Ellen Dimetrius. I think thats how you spell her last name. You can find it anywhere though. There was also some older books I read, but they were pretty much useless. Her book really has a lot of good information, over time you start to recognize body language naturally.
amazon.com/gp/product/078722 … e&n=283155
amazon.com/gp/product/096559 … e&n=283155
Here are two links about books that you might enjoy on the subject.
The trick is to learn to enjoy them, despite what they expose to you about themselves inadvertently.
My biggest flaw wasn’t in knowing people or what buttons to push to manipulate them, my flaw was that I could never control my own reactions or hide my thoughts sufficiently enough.
I’m a reluctant honest man. I can lie and pretend verbally but my eyes betray me.