Manwatching [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Just as a bird-watcher watches birds, so a man-watcher watches people. But he is a student of human behaviour, not a voyeur. To him, the way an elderly gentleman waves to a friend is quite as exciting as the way a young girl crosses her legs. He is a field-observer of human actions, and his field is everywhere—at the bus-stop, the supermarket, the airport, the street corner, the dinner party and the football match. Wherever people behave, there the man-watcher has something to learn —something about his fellow-men and, ultimately, about himself. We are all man-watchers to some extent. We occasionally make a mental note of a particular posture or gesture and wonder how it can have originated, but we seldom do anything about it. We say things Uke: 'So-and-so makes me uneasy—I don't know why, but he just does', or 'Wasn't she behaving strangely last night?' or 'I always feel completely relaxed with those two—it's something about their manner." And there we leave the matter. But the serious man-watcher wants to know why these feelings are aroused. He wants to know how we come to act the way we do. This means carrying out long hours of field-work and looking at people in a new way. There is nothing especially technical about this approach. AU that is needed is an understanding of a number of simple concepts, and it is these concepts that this book aims to present. Each one tells us about a special type of behaviour, or a special way in which behaviour develops, originates or changes. To know these concepts makes it possible to recognize certain patterns of behaviour much more clearly the next time they are encountered. And it enables the observer to see beneath the surface of what is taking place whenever people meet and interact. So this is a book about actions, about how actions become gestures, and about how gestures transmit messages. As a species we may be technologically clever and philosophically brilliant, but we have not lost our animal property of being physically active; and it is this bodily activity that is the primary concern of the man-watcher. Frequently the human animal is unaware of his actions—which makes them all the more revealing. He concentrates so hard on his words that he seems to forget that his movements, postures and expressions are telling their own story. It should be added, though, that this book is not intended as an aid to dominating one's companions by reading their secret thoughts. A birdwatcher does not study birds in order to shoot them down. In the same way, a man-watcher does not take unfair advantage of his special understanding of human behaviour. True, a proficient, objective olsserver can utilize his knowledge to transform a boring social occasion into an exciting field-trip, but his primary aim is to come to a deeper understanding of human interactions and of the remarkable predictability of much of human behaviour. As with all scientific research there is, of course, the danger that new knowledge can lead to new forms of exploitation of the ignorant by the knowledgeable, but in this particular case there is perhaps a greater chance that it can instead be the source of increased tolerance. For to understand the significance of another man's actions is to gain an insight into his problems; to see what lies behind his conduct is perhaps to forgive it, where previously one would have attacked it. Above all, it must be stressed that there is nothing insulting about looking at people as animals. We are animals, after all. Homo sapiens is a species of primate, a biological phenomenon dominated by biological rules, like any other species. Human nature is no more than one particular kind of animal nature. Agreed, the human species is an extraordinary animal; but all other species are also extraordinary animals, each in their own way, and the scientific man-watcher can bring many fresh insights to the study of human affairs if he can retain this basic attitude of evolutionary humility.