The Steps to Reading Body Language 17
C H A P T E R 1
17
Primitive man had a repertoire of survival skills that
included reading body language. Etiquette and culture have
blunted that natural human ability. Add to those factors the
complexity of spoken language and modern conventions
related to body language—stock gestures we see all the time
in movies and TV—and the result is this: few people today
can read body language well.
Most of the time, we don’t even know what our own
bodies are doing. Human body language is more closely tied
to ritual than planned behavior. I don’t think about how to
pick up my glass when I drink, how to hold my fork, or start
my car. Our brains are so complex, with multiple subpro-
grams running at all times, that it is difficult to have complete