Are you a duchenne smiler (genuine) or pan american smiler (fake...and yep, it was named in honor of the doomed airline's flight attendants)? Can you distinguish between fake smiles and genuine ones? I got 13 out of 20 correct but, contrary to popular results, I recognized most of the fake ones and missed more of the genuine smiles. Am I overly pessimistic or has half a lifetime of public service schooled me too well in the art of recognizing bull&hit when I see it :)
Visit Retrospectacle for the article on how smiles are perceived, (sorry Japanese patrons! I'll try not to be so insensitive in the future) and click the BBC quiz link after the second great photo of Mr. Smile to see how well you tell the difference. If you think about it, come back and comment on your results and how you feel about your bull&hitometer...
*smiling genuinely, I promise*
htw
2 comments:
Interesting test. I got 16 out of twenty, but I'm much older than you, so I would expect a higher rate of accuracy (meaning I've been exposed to much more bs in my life so far, than you. I work in a predominately male business where most discussions begin and sometimes end with bs). Plus I like to think I'm a long-time student of human behavior. I wasn't sure about face number 13 though, when she smiled I was too frightened to rate... When will we be able to answer that eternal question, "why don't the English take care of their teeth?" (There, now I've made a glaring generality.) Couldn't help myself.
glaring generalizations, sweeping ones even, are sometimes unavoidable...I thought the same thing about several of the smiling subjects and now I can't get the scene out of my mind from Austin Powers when he judo chops the toothpaste into the guard's face while escaping from the sharks with lasers attached to their heads...how's that for random?
:)
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