A new study suggests that, not only does "gaydar" exist, it's actually very efficient. I guess mine isn't particularly good because I don't really care all that much about it.
They're still trying to pretend reading body language is the same as reading minds, it seems. Can't punish people for thoughtcrime until the authorities convince themselves they can read thoughts, after all.
My opinion is, as usual, that the times "mind readers" get it totally wrong because the person being "read" didn't take part in the exact same popular culture the reade did and therefore doesn't give the same set of non-verbal cues, makes "body language" untenable for reading people outside a limited population of close friends that grew up together, or close relationships that are worth the effort of learning one another's body language. For applications like "gaydar" and "creep factor," it's almost useless when applied to strangers.
The article, however, seems to indicate the subjects were looking at faces of people not known to them. It'd be interesting to see if this was cross-cultural.
Posted by: Scott on May 28, 2012 09:12 AM