It's not only the writer who could use a shit detector, it'd be helpful to pretty much anyone. This post will be about a very specific type of detector, designed for a very specific type of crap. This post is about a bullshit detector; specifically, how to build your own.
What brought the BS detector to mind was a column in the Washington Post about body language at last week's Democratic debate in New Hampshire. In every presidential election, this sort of column is rewritten. We know, for example, that Bill Clinton avoided pointing when he spoke, doing some weird thing with his thumb sticking up out of his fist as he pounded the podium instead -- see, pointing is accusatory and Clinton was punctuating, not accusing.
Normally, these pieces come much later in the campaign -- toward the end -- when there's pretty much nothing left to write about the candidates. Usually, these are about the party's nominees, who've already pretty much staked out who they are and what they stand for and reporters, having run out of stuff to write about these guys, start looking at trivia.
In this case, WaPo got together three PR gurus, had them watch the debate, and got their input.
Washington Post:
It's the "nonverbals" that the threesome, partners in a small, Washington-based consulting firm, KNP Communications, believe play a crucial role in how swing voters pick a candidate. They cite academic research in which average-Joe subjects predicted, with a startling level of accuracy, which candidate won a race after viewing only a brief, soundless clip of the pols in action. It's the soft science of first impressions and gut reactions -- not just what candidates say, but how they say it. Which ones convey warmth and strength with expansive gestures or a firm gaze; which ones undercut their messages with weakling posture or an untimely scowl.
In other words: Why Reagan beat Carter. Why Bill Clinton beat Dole.
Never mind that both Carter and Dole went into their campaigns with low approvals, they lost because of their body language -- at least, according to these guys. For me, this has always been bad news. Let's try picking our candidates by thinking about it for a change, OK?...
[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
