Face Facts
I haven’t looked this up, but pretend that I have and that I’m saying it with authority: Since the invention of letters, no other graphic form of communication has caught on with the speed and saturation of the planet as has the emoji. We’ve actually invented a new way to express complex emotions in written communications for the first time in thousands of years. And within a matter of only a few years, pretty much everyone in the world knows and uses it. That’s remarkable.
Being the tiresome contrarian that I am, I rejected them at first simply because everyone was doing it. But after a couple of embarrassing misunderstandings via email wherein I was kidding and someone took it the wrong way, I quickly began to see how valuable they are.
The thing is, humans are master communicators by nature, and we can transfer an astounding amount of very subtle and specific information between us, but it isn’t all verbal. We also learn an enormous amount from body language and especially facial expression. When we write to each other, those clues are eliminated and it makes the meaning that much less clear.
Good writers know how to lead the reader down precisely the path they intend, but when average folks like you and me write to each other casually, we can easily be misunderstood. Emojis rather brilliantly fill in the info that is inherently missing in written messages. What’s truly astounding is that it took us this long to invent something so incredibly useful: the written facial expression.
All of this brings me to a tangential point, which is something I really hate about having to wear masks in public: it eliminates a crucial part of our facial expression.
Most people agree it is more difficult to understand a person who is wearing a mask but I contend it’s not just about the reduction in volume. I think the equation also includes not being able to see their mouth. Even when we’re not staring directly at someone’s mouth, there is a subtle kind of lip-reading that goes on in our periphery that helps us discern a speaker’s meaning. And more importantly, without seeing the person’s mouth we’re also missing the majority of their facial expression.
For the record, I fully support wearing a mask in public and do so devoutly. It’s been proven in disparate cultures all over the world to be effective in making the duration of this dung wagon of a pandemic shorter, and who doesn’t want that? But that doesn’t mean I have to like it or that I can’t complain.
I truly hope the mask thing goes away sooner than later (though I doubt that it will) because I believe it inhibits our ability to connect, and connection is something humans always need. Especially in times like these.
How long before they market digital masks that automatically flash emojis reflecting our feelings in real-time as we speak? Yay. Technology to the rescue again.
And here to rescue us from that chilling thought are all of Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons from last week! Let’s read them together, shall we?…
I keep promising I’m going to switch to a more grown-up toothpaste but I just can’t bear to give up those colored marshmallows in my Lucky Charms brand.
Notice how he slides class warfare in there? “Peasants” indeed!
She’s an arachno-psychotherapist. It’s a thing in certain parts of the West Coast.
At home, he practices getting out of an invisible playpen.
Those are even harder to prepare out on the range than spaghetti.
From the earth’s perspective which creature is the “pest”? (I know. Too easy.)
Well, Jazz Pickles, we’ve reached the end of another ride on our Tilt-a-Whirl of comedy. Thanks for getting nauseous with us! If you enjoy what we do and that we offer it for free, please consider donating to one of the links below. All of us at Rancho Bizarro will extend a mighty “gracias!” We’re currently donating half the profits from our shops to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the other half to my daughters till their jobs come back, so your dimes will be put to good use.
Until next week, be smart, be grateful, laugh about something, make something, don’t freak out.
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