Strong Reactions to People's Faces Posted: 10-27-07 10:52am
I'm wondering if anyone has similar
experiences. I look at people's faces a
lot. They seem to say so much. I stare at
them and try to figure them out. I also
wonder if what I read from them is true,
or is the person's personality different
from what I detect in the face. I must say
that a lot of times my reactions are
negative. It seems that most people's
faces look as if the person was boring,
unintelligent, ordinary to the brink of
pain. This makes me feel depressed. Others
look self-absorbed or cocky, overconfident
and agressive, and it brings out my
agression in turn. Sometimes I see evil in
a person's face. A lot of times my
reaction is very negative and I just want
to smash the person's face to pieces.
Sometimes though I see a person and their
face seems to be very positive and
fundamentally good, and it's very
inspiring to look at it.
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redeme
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 71 Location: australia
Posted: 10-27-07 11:32am
i get this quite often. might have
something to do with my past drug abuse
though i always thought. it gets me into a
bit of trouble every now and again because
i might think somethings going on that i
dont know about or whatever.
it happens alot when im on a bus or a
plane, walk down a crowded city street
maybe. somewhere not to big with alot of
people usually. i get this exactly
sometimes followed by really strange
breathing patterns. hard to explain but
basically i get paranoid people can hear
me breathing or that im not breathing
enuff and ill start gulping in air and
making weird noises or stop tryin to
breath so muchn and go red in the face.
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Birch
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Re: Strong Reactions to People's Faces Posted: 10-27-07 14:33pm
Philo
wrote:
I'm wondering if anyone has
similar experiences. I look at people's
faces a lot. They seem to say so much. I
stare at them and try to figure them out.
I also wonder if what I read from them is
true, or is the person's personality
different from what I detect in the face.
I must say that a lot of times my
reactions are negative. It seems that most
people's faces look as if the person was
boring, unintelligent, ordinary to the
brink of pain. This makes me feel
depressed. Others look self-absorbed or
cocky, overconfident and agressive, and it
brings out my agression in turn. Sometimes
I see evil in a person's face. A lot of
times my reaction is very negative and I
just want to smash the person's face to
pieces. Sometimes though I see a person
and their face seems to be very positive
and fundamentally good, and it's very
inspiring to look at it.
Have you ever gotten to know someone and
compared your intial assessment to what
you know now?
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randomthoughts
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 7
Posted: 10-27-07 15:18pm
i think the face can potentially reflect a
lot of whats going on (or not going on
) inside the mind.
It can be misread a lot though... one
facial expression could mean a lot of
different, semirelated things.
Particularly in people who are feeling
down/depressed, a blunting effect comes
into play which dampens or completely
deadens facial expression. The end results
is something that looks ugly, odd, dumb,
angry, weird.
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Philo
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 331 Location: Montreal
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Re: Strong Reactions to People's Faces Posted: 10-28-07 11:13am
Birch
wrote:
Have you ever gotten to know
someone and compared your intial
assessment to what you know
now?
The problem is that I don't get to know a
lot of people, so I can't really compare.
I see this as a big lack in my life in
general, and it detracts from my analysis
of people. I surmise that sometimes I'm
right, sometimes I'm wrong in my
perceptions.
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Galaxy
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Joined: 15 Mar 2006 Posts: 512 Location: U.K,
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Posted: 03-22-08 18:19pm
I have to admit to being fascinated with
people's faces, too. I like to study them
and try to work out their biography from
it, and sometimes it can get me into
trouble.
I watched a group of travelling people in
a bar one night and I became completely
absorbed in the face of one of the men -
to me it seemed almost non-human, like the
face of a wood nymph or a mischievous
sprite. When I went to leave, I was
followed outside by two of the women in
the group who pulled a knife on me for
staring at their man! It took some quick
thinking to get out of that one.
I find myself staring at people on public
transport. I often wish I could be
invisible so that I could study their
faces more intently. Today I saw an
Indian woman on my bus with a face that
looked almost beatified. I kept glancing
at her, then looking away, then back
again, and then she smiled at me.
Sometimes you see a face in a crowd that
seems to resonate with you. This was one
of those times.
I am a people watcher, I suppose.
Sometimes, though not often, I have
experienced what you describe, Philo -
being so irritated by a face that it
almost maddens me. But a voice can be
even more maddening and I find that in a
restaurant I cannot sit near anyone who is
talking or laughing too loudly. To me it
is offensive and sometimes downright
painful. I hate loud voices and people
who talk too much! Perhaps I am overly
sensitive, but hey, at this point in my
life I can pick and choose who I want to
be around - one of the benefits of middle
age!
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slider_alt
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 7
Posted: 03-25-08 21:48pm
That's interesting that you say that. I'm
not schizophrenic, and I'm not exactly
sure who is and who isn't on here, but I
too like to look at people's faces a lot.
I didn't really realize what it was until
now. I know I find myself looking at
people a lot, and I thought it was mainly
because I was an artist at first, but now
I think it's more like what you guys
mentioned.
Sometimes I'll see someone who's sad and I
just want to study their face and feel and
understand what they're going through on
the inside. I find myself doing this a
lot, even with people who talk a lot and
seem outgoing. I'll want to look at them
and study them and try to understand from
their face, how they became such a happy
person and if they're really happy or just
that way in public. Sometimes I find
myself having to look away from people a
lot and I'm always afraid that they
probably think I'm some weird stalker guy
for wanting to catch glimpses of them.
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Galaxy
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Joined: 15 Mar 2006 Posts: 512 Location: U.K,
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Posted: 03-26-08 11:49am
I am not schizophrenic either, slider_alt,
but I do like to come here as I think you
can gain some really valuable insights
into the human psyche from reading the
posts here.
What you describe sounds exactly like the
sorts of things I do - like you, I try to
see behind the 'mask' or work out what
their life experience has been.
You're an artist and I'm a writer and I
suppose that may be part of the reason we
spend our time studying facial
expressions. I also like to observe the
interaction between two people in order to
understand the dynamics of the
relationship. Maybe people would consider
that to be 'nosy' and meddlesome but I am
not really interested in their personal
business, I am merely interested in their
behaviour.
Anyone else care to admit to this
particular foible?
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slider_alt
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 7
Posted: 03-26-08 12:00pm
Yeah, I like to look at people in groups
too and try to figure out the dynamics of
their relationship. For instance, there
may be 3 guys and 2 girls...and I'll try
to figure out if they're all just friends,
who might be dating who, and which one of
them is probably the "ringleader" that
everyone listens to.
I guess you're right about the whole
artist and writer thing. Since I also
write, I guess I like seeing how people
interact so that way when I'm writing or
drawing something, I can make it look
authentic by giving the audience something
they're familiar with seeing. Also since
I have to establish relationships in
stories, I guess I want to make it easy
for the audience to understand the
dynamics of the characters in my stories
easily as well.
So yeah, I love to people watch. I could
just sit some place like at the mall or in
a park and just watch people come and go
and be entertained by that to a certain
degree.
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 592 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
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Posted: 03-26-08 12:04pm
Ok, I admit it. I do this also, especially
in the mall where I walk. I didn't realise
it was unusual. I guess I assumed it was
just something that everyone does to a
degree.
I am also a writer, so maybe it does have
to do with trying to solve the mystery of
the psyche behind the face. I don't think
it's a bad thing to do unless it
progresses to the point where someone
takes offense (like Galaxy found out).
I also think because I am basically shy, I
have become adept at sizing people up by
their facial expressions and rarely talk
to them.
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Philo
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 331 Location: Montreal
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Posted: 03-26-08 19:40pm
When I look at people's faces I often see
ignorance, stupidity, immaturity,
ugliness, aggression... It makes me feel
bad that I think that of them because I
seem to think that you're supposed to love
people, etc. You know, the spiritual
message and all. I try to muster up a
positive approach to people, but it works
just for a few minutes and then I'm back
to not liking them and them not liking me.
I used to get in trouble with bosses,
co-workers and other people because of
mutual aggression. It seems like no matter
how patient and tolerant I am with people
we end up pissing each other off.
) inside the mind.
It can be misread a lot though... one
facial expression could mean a lot of
different, semirelated things.
