what do your eyes see and what does your mind think?!

Subjectivity of interpretation is inescapable despite the commonalities, and this is very clear due to these two pictures.

Every person who views both these pictures will have a different interpretation for both, that is for sure... There could be numerous reasons for different interpretation of these pictures which could be due to cultural differences, ie people from different cultural background might have differed interpretations and perceptions of these pictures due to their different cultural influences.

It could also be a result of the non verbal cues portrayed in these pictures, perceived differently by varied kinds of unique people. nonverbal cues are an extremely influential source of meaning which occurs when a stimulus other than words creates meaning in the mind of a communicator.

In technical terms, there are many types of non verbal communication. In this case however, the two dominant ones are Kinesics (gestures or body language) and Haptics (touch).

I feel that these two types of non verbal communication are most prominent in helping the viewer to perceive and interpret these pictures because body language of each of the two people in each picture is extremely different and contrasting from the other which almost forces the viewer to feel differently about both the pictures.

Haptics, i.e. touch, only amplifies the difference and body gestures. The touch in both is visibly different which helps exxagerate the body gestures.

You might have thought very differently of these two pictures, however they indeed are both of two professional massages in process, and yet look different and give the viewer different impressions... why?

what was your interpretation/perception and why?

horoscopes... farse or perception?

A typical, prominent subject significantly affected by perception is the horoscopes' section published in newspapers, magazines and online. There are a section of people who faithfully believe in these, another section who believe it to be a complete farse and a third who partially believe in published horoscopes... communication and behaviour are based on our perception rather than on reality and every individual interprets messages differently. I think the best evidence of this theory are horoscopes and how all different people view, interpret and imbibe these 'future predictions'.
The sender (i.e. the author/writer), communicates his message (non verbal writings) via various channels/mediums as stated above, and through this the writer communicates and tries to express the words in a way he/she wishes the reader to percieve and interpret these messages.
However, "perception is the process of selecting, organising and interpreting information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we recieve" (Seller & Beall, Communication Making Connection, 1999:31) which explains how every reciever decodes these same messages differently...
what is your take on horoscopes?

Matchmaking agencies

I came across this article titled ‘American flies to S’pore to find a Vietnam bride’ in the newspaper ‘The New Paper on Sunday’ (Pg 6).

I do not expect everybody to have read the article or even want to read the entire article and so I plan to include the main points in my post and keep this discussion a more general one instead of focusing only on this specific article.

The American, Mr Stomp stated in an interview, “The girls I had relationships with just did not share my values. With a Vietnamese bride, you know exactly what to expect- a person who values love, family, marriage and commitment.”

With four failed relationships, this man chose his bride to be by simply seeing her picture on a matchmaking agency’s website stating, “As soon as I saw Thu’s picture, I knew she was the right girl for me. Her smile was pure and innocent”

What does a picture on a website really communicate?! Besides the ‘looks’ criteria, does it affect your logos (logic)? Pathos (emotion)? What can you really know by looking at a person’s picture although her culture is known to have the values that appeal to you?
In the article it is also mentioned that language between them is an obvious problem which they dealt with by talking in short easy-to-understand-phrases when they spent time alone for the first time.

Language is one the most important mean of expression and hence communication. If two people are from completely different cultures and backgrounds language problems make everything more difficult so how can a man who wasn’t able to communicate his values to women in his own area be able to communicate and live with a women whom he not only is a stranger to but also can’t freely interact with?!

In my opinion choosing a girl or deciding to marry a girl by simply looking at her picture is completely ridiculous, and when your cultures are completely different it makes it far worse. I think good, effective communication, through language and more is very necessary for strong and lasting relationships. Therefore in this case I find it rather astonishing how these two human beings can subject themselves to spending their lives with another without having prior intense interaction as well as having grave troubles with present and future communication. (The idea of subjecting oneself to a matchmaking agency is another topic of ridicule all together).