Friday, October 17, 2008

The Faces We Make

We all make faces. But usually it is when we are alone or with someone who we really trust and are comfortable with. But WE DON'T do it in front of an audience, after a national debate, where news photographers are present.... esp. not a face where we are sticking out our tongue, obviously in disgust.

This post is not an endorsement for Obama. But I have to say, I'm glad they both didn't make a face. We can use this as a clue to what the candidate would do in future public situations they find distasteful.

It is hard to know what is going on with McCain. It is very likely that Obama might have the same feelings about his experience of the debate. But what you think in certain times needs to be very different than what behavior you display. McCain should have known better. I would encourage you to link to the comments to this WaPo post and see what people said about the photo:



link to WaPo photo and article


Washington Post
October 17, 2008


Counter-Intuition » Is This What McCain Thinks of Obama?


Psychologists believe that fleeting expressions can sometimes reveal how we really feel about other people. The photo above of John McCain, taken by Reuters photographer Jim Bourg, shows the presidential candidate going the wrong way around the table after the third presidential debate and sticking out his tongue in the direction of Barack Obama. Does it unwittingly convey what McCain really thinks of his opponent?

It seems unfair to pick a single photo to describe how a candidate feels -- all of us look like idiots during some part of each day. But we use expressions as guides all the time. Here is how John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama want us to see them. If unflattering pictures are deceptive, what about the flattering ones?

Or could it be that photos -- at least the ones that are not posed -- tell us something important? Psychologists such as Paul Ekman and John Gottman believe that microexpressions, rapid expressions often overlooked in everyday interactions, can give us important insights into a person's innermost thoughts and feelings.

So is that McCain photo a hatchet job, or a window into his soul?

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