. . . MAN AND WOMAN are talking. Man leans back and casually loosens tie.
Woman鈥攚ho has studied the popular texts on body language鈥攊nstantly
catches his drift. Revealing that indentation at the base of his neck is a
universal sign of submission. He is attracted to her.
But the power of body language extends far beyond such unconscious messages.
Gestures can drive home a point, and also seem to help speakers thumb through
their mental lexicons. Some researchers even believe that such signals hail from
way back in our past, from a time before spoken language when our ancestors
communicated with their whole bodies in a form of mime
(鈥淏辞诲测迟补濒办鈥�).
It鈥檚 obvious that there鈥檚 more to communication than words, and many
different ways to get a message across. Urine, for example, speaks volumes. At
least it does if you鈥檙e a lobster
(鈥淧ee is for particular鈥�). Vibrations
seem to do the trick for stink bugs. The female of the species lets her date
know her whereabouts by tapping out a jungle rhythm on a leaf
(鈥淭hrobbing with desire鈥�).
Fish, on the other hand, like to bang their own drums鈥攐r
blow their own trumpets鈥攃reating sweet music with little more than a swim
bladder and delicate muscular control. When they band together, the fish chorus
can drown out the sound of ships and interfere with submarine sonar systems
(鈥淪quawk, burble and pop鈥�).
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But when birds want to attract a mate, they often resort to that old
standard鈥攖he love song. And how they perform their song can make all the
difference. Some females go for guys who bang out the same tunes endlessly,
while others are only turned on by a display of musical inventiveness
(鈥淭weets for my sweet鈥�).
It all goes to show that, whatever you鈥檙e trying to say, it pays to know your
audience . . .