Mike Domitrz argues that the same facial expression never means the same thing twice, even from the same person. A high schooler's look on Friday might mean something different on Saturday. Treating body language as universal is a myth that can damage relationships.
And I've never seen the same look given twice on the stage. I've never seen that version of the look ever before in my life until just now. Why is that important? Because that means that everybody in this room has a different look. And if everybody in this room has a different look, there's no such thing as the look. It's a myth, which means body language is suddenly unreliable. In fact, it could be dangerous. Now, some of you could be looking at me going, but wait, wait, Mike, what if I'm in a long-term relationship, then is body language reliable? Let's go there. Let's say it's a Friday night, 2 high schoolers are together, and they're both hoping something happens. And one of them gives the look, and it leads to, let's just say, making out, right? Next night they're together again, same person gives the exact same look. Does it necessarily mean the exact same thing, yes or no? No. So same person, same look, can mean different things. That's how unreliable body language is.
