So much of communication is outside of verbal language
Transcript of this video:
Since I started making these videos walking outside, here in Cambridge, I’ve noticed that my level of creative engagement in making them, and I think the engagement of the audience watching them, seems to have gone up.
And that’s kind of interesting, isn’t it? Because you might think, but surely by going outside and having all this movement going on in the background: passers-by on foot on cycles or in boats, the sounds of nature, et cetera surely that’s distracting from the core message.
But it turns out the opposite is the case. And it’s, I think, a fascinating reminder that as humans we are connecting with each other by so much more than just the words and language that we are using.
And in an era where everyone’s getting very excited about ChatGPT, AI and large language models I think we need to remember that, a crucial part of our relating to each other is actually our embodiment and our movement.
You know, I imagine that our ancestors, maybe even before they had formal verbal language, would’ve been tuning into each other by gestures and body movement.
And by keeping a sense of ourselves as embodied creatures in the way that we relate I think we might find that we actually get on, rather more effectively than a mere ChatGPT bot would have us believe.
Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash
