Sisters
of mercy, welcome to another week. It has been almost 5 years since GGTH leapt
upon the interweb in search of a voice and a self-centred purpose. Here we are
more than 250 blogs later and might I say my girlfriends, sister is running out
of things to say.
Here
I was sitting on a plane just yesterday pondering the universe and the
mountains below and yes… my mind was a blank. What wisdom would be my Tuesday
rant? What to discuss this week?
I
was stunted. Blank. That is until the woman sitting next to me leaned in and
said….
“ I
recognize you from TV. You are that doctor on the news”.
“
Yes I am”. I confessed.
“
You talk a lot with your hands.” She reported.
“
Indeed”.
And
that was all.
I
do talk a lot with my hands. In fact I gesture so much these days that I wonder
if my Fitbit really does have me down for an average of 20,000 steps per day or
is that just me- waving and flailing my arms around in protest?
Truth
be told- there is indeed a lot to protest in the world these days. Never mind
the usual injustices…. Here we are at 25,000 feet above sea level and some
random stranger sitting next to me for the next hour feels the need to give me
observational feedback on my behaviour that I can neither use nor correct?
And
so, this woman (or perhaps it was the cabin pressure) flipped my neurotic
switch.
Is
it bad that I talk with my hands so much? Am I distracting from the message? Do
I look like a fool flailing about? Should I watch myself and try and tone it
down?
Shit
no. I’m a hand talker…. Perfect stranger be damned. When I am passionate about
a topic I gesture even more.
My
husband (sweet soul that he is) has even named certain gestures of mine. When I
am driving a point home I tend to “bring out the claw” This is a pointed claw
like action that I have been known to favour in times where emphasis is
paramount.
Said
“Claw” is a favourite of mine. Indeed one anniversary, my beloved bought me a
lovely silver cuff bracelet in order that “ the claw would have something fancy
to wear”.
And
so I sat there on that mid-size flight next to my random critic and pondered my
handsy ways. I was a gesture-talker, a finger wager and someone who did not
just make a point…. She pointed it.
Was
this truly a social felony? Were my movements of my wrists and offensive move
in themselves?
Turns
out, this lady on the plane was indeed full of shit.
A
study published out of Humboldt University in Germany shows that hand gestures
is a sign of intelligence.
The
study looked at 51 adolescents in Grade 11 at 3 different high schools in
Berlin. Students were given IQ tests and assigned to one of three groups based
on their scores.
The
students were then asked to solve visual analogy problems. The problems
involved being able to visually imagine rotating pieces on a chessboard.
Not
surprisingly the students who higher scores in FLUID INTELLIEGENCE were able to
solve the problems much better. Fluid Intelligence is the type of intelligence
responsible for problem solving abilities.
The
investigators then asked the students how they solved the problems.
Most
surprising was that the students who had the highest levels of fluid
intelligence gestured more. More
specifically, they made gestures with their hands or fingers that simulated
circular movements around an axis.
The students all TALKED about the same
things in their explanations, however, the most intelligent of students
actually gestured along with their explanations more and even in a rotating
fashion- mimicking how the problems would be solved.
The researchers went on to do MRI scans of
the subjects brains and found that the cortical tissue in several areas of the
brain was thicker in those students with higher fluid intelligence.
Several other studies have shown similar
relationships between intelligence and hand gestures. Furthermore, certain
studies have confirmed an association between brain function on MRI and hand
gesturing.
We do not know yet whether
gesturing facilitates the development of fluid intelligence or whether it is a
by-product. But we do know that children who are asked to gesture in certain
ways while learning new tasks learn better than children who are asked not to
gesture.
Mounting
evidence has also shown that hand gestures when done properly do indeed
emphasize and legitimize a message rather than diluting it.
One
such article published in Psychology Today in 2012 shows that certain gestures
convey certain messages. For example, palms up convey honesty, palms down is
certainty. The “didactic” which is described as a “sweeping claw” (pretend you
are holding a bottle of water…. Now lift up your index finger and separate it
from the fist as though to make a point) conveys intelligence.
It
turns out that my CLAW is a dead ringer for the “didactic” (and my claw has a
fabulous silver cuff bracelet on it.
There
you have it sisters… make your point here (and there) and point it out- wave
your hands and shout it out…. The world is watching and so am I. Talk it out my
sweet sisters of mercy and by all means- use your hands…. Not only does it shows
you care… it shows that your brain is bigger than the brains of other peoples’.
And if by some reason you get a little self conscious about the fingers and
wrists moving about…. Get a fabulous piece of jewelry to put on display…. Every
sister loves a good show now and then.