Originally Posted by
Harley
I heard once that 60% of human communication is conducted through non verbal signs - body language, tone etc
And it does make the internet very difficult I agree!
actually i think it's more than 60, more like 70 or 80. i do know for a fact that only 40% is the tone. the rest is hand signals, expression and body language. that's why when most people are on the phone they're hands are still incredibly active, despite the fact no one can see them.
because of inventions like the internet, and to a lesser extent texting, humans are now required to invent a new way of communication, one that deals in words alone with no tone and little expression. a form of communication that goes against the last million years of linguistic evolution. even apes use hand signals and body language more than sounds. humans were no exception to this. spoken language is really a recent invention; somewhere in the last hundred thousand years or so. even amongst the animal kingdom it's action that takes precident over noise.
as communication via the internet grows it will be interesting to see how our communications skills will evolve with it.