Observational Skills Are Not Observed in Blind Oppression
An Inkfluence of Art Awareness Perspective
There is a general lack of observational skills in our society.
Sometimes it seems that the average person has difficulty distinguishing good from bad, danger from difference, or right from wrong in ordinary daylight.
So how are we expected to see clearly when we are standing inside blinded oppression?
One of the largest educational gaps of this century may be our understanding of non-verbal communication.
We learn how to read words.
We learn how to follow instructions.
We learn standardized answers.
But how much are we taught about observing another human being without immediately judging them?
When we are continually told what to think, we can lose practice in asking ourselves:
What am I actually observing?
What do I know—and what am I assuming?
Is this person's behaviour communicating something different from what I have been told it means?
Our standardized society makes many choices for us. We are moved through systems designed to provide education, employment, transportation, food, housing, entertainment and material goods.
We work primarily for money and exchange that money for necessities produced by an enormous manufactured world.
Eventually, the machine itself can begin to feel like the leader, while human beings become its operators and figureheads.
But human beings aren't machines.
THE LOST LANGUAGE
Long before someone explains themselves with words, we notice things.
Facial expression.
Eye movement.
Posture.
Distance.
Gestures.
Movement.
Tone.
Pace of speech.
Silence.
Changes in behaviour.
Whether someone's words appear comfortable or strained.
These are parts of non-verbal communication.
Psychology gives us an important warning, however:
There is no universal dictionary that translates one gesture into one meaning.
Crossed arms do not automatically mean someone is defensive.
Looking away does not automatically mean someone is lying.
Fidgeting does not automatically mean guilt.
Silence does not automatically mean agreement.
Someone standing farther away does not automatically dislike you.
A behaviour becomes more meaningful when we understand the person, situation, culture and context surrounding it.
OBSERVE THE CHANGE, NOT JUST THE GESTURE
Instead of searching for a supposedly suspicious gesture, learn someone's ordinary behaviour—their baseline.
Then notice meaningful changes.
A normally animated person becomes unusually still.
Someone who usually speaks easily suddenly struggles for words.
A relaxed posture becomes tense when a particular subject is introduced.
Someone begins creating physical distance.
A person's facial expression and spoken words appear noticeably inconsistent.
These observations can tell us:
Something may have changed.
They cannot automatically tell us why.
That difference matters.
DISABILITY IS NOT DECEPTION
This is particularly important when observing people with disabilities or neurological differences.
Eye contact, movement, speech patterns, facial expressions, response time, repetitive movements, sensory reactions and body posture can differ enormously between people.
A person may need additional processing time.
Someone may avoid eye contact because direct eye contact is uncomfortable.
A person may move repeatedly to regulate themselves.
Someone may have difficulty interpreting tone, facial expression or implied meaning.
Another person may appear expressionless while experiencing intense emotion internally.
None of these things, by themselves, establish dishonesty, disrespect, guilt, aggression or bad character.
Difference is information—not evidence of wrongdoing.
CULTURE HAS A BODY LANGUAGE TOO
Non-verbal communication also exists within culture.
Eye contact that communicates confidence in one environment may be considered disrespectful in another.
Physical distance varies.
Touch varies.
Gestures vary.
Volume varies.
Silence varies.
Even emotional expression varies.
When we interpret everyone according to our own cultural rules, observation quietly becomes judgment.
RUMOUR IS NOT OBSERVATION
Rumour tells us what somebody else thinks we should see.
Observation asks us to look for ourselves.
This distinction becomes particularly important when a person or group has already been labelled.
Once someone tells us:
"She's difficult."
"He's suspicious."
"They're strange."
our brains may begin searching for behaviour that confirms the description.
We stop observing the person and begin observing the story about the person.
That is one way ordinary misunderstanding can grow into prejudice, discrimination and oppression.
A BETTER FIVE-STEP PRACTICE
1. OBSERVE
What did I actually see or hear?
2. SEPARATE
What part is observation, and what part is my interpretation?
3. CONTEXTUALIZE
Could disability, culture, stress, fear, grief, environment, personality or communication differences explain what I noticed?
4. ASK
When appropriate, allow the person to explain themselves instead of allowing other people to explain them for them.
5. REASSESS
Be willing to change your original interpretation when you receive better information.
This isn't about becoming a human lie detector.
It is almost the opposite.
It is learning enough about human communication to recognize how easily we can misunderstand one another.
BLIND OPPRESSION
Oppression becomes particularly dangerous when people stop observing independently.
When rumours become facts.
When labels replace individuals.
When stereotypes replace questions.
When difference becomes suspicion.
When authority replaces curiosity.
When repetition becomes "truth."
When everyone is looking in the same direction because somebody told them where to look, important things occurring outside that frame can become invisible.
That is blind oppression.
The solution isn't simply learning to read body language.
It is learning to observe while remaining humble enough to say:
"I noticed something—but I don't yet know what it means."
That single sentence leaves room for disability.
It leaves room for culture.
It leaves room for trauma.
It leaves room for individuality.
It leaves room for misunderstanding.
And most importantly,
it leaves room for the human being standing in front of us.
INK Awareness Principle
Observation should open a question—not close a case.
Before believing the rumour, observe.
Before assigning intention, ask.
Before judging difference, understand context.
Before following the crowd, look for yourself.
Because observational skills aren't really observational skills unless we are also capable of recognizing when our own assumptions are obstructing the view.
Inkfluence of Art
Healing Through Creativity • Awareness Through Perspective
#INK — No One Left Behind