[clug] non-verbal channels

[Hugh Fisher]

Brendan Jurd wrote:
 > You pretty much nailed it above.  The amount of data carried on the
 > non-verbal channel (facial expression, posture, hand gestures) is
 > massive, and it's being constantly interpreted by your brain (mostly
 > sub-consciously) at ludicrous speeds.

Without the non-verbal channels, communication is less sincere.
Not a good word, but I can't think of one better. This doesn't
mean that the person at the other end of your IRC/SMS/Twitter
conversation thinks you're a liar, but that subconsciously at
least they won't/can't take you quite as seriously because
they don't have all these extra cues to know whether or not
you really believe what you're saying.

Whether this matters depends on the subject of discussion. If
you just want to decide which video game you'd prefer to play
this weekend, probably not. If it's about which project to
invest a million dollars in, it does.

This is why, despite repeated efforts, businesses have never
really taken to video conferencing.

-- 
     Hugh Fisher
     CECS, ANU