Post #2

BlogPost2: More Exploration of Mental Filters and Their Influences on Perception

For this assignment, a friend and I went into a food court and observed the people there for around half of an hour. We sat back, didn't talk, and just observed until we came back together to discuss. It was interesting to compare what we saw over the span of time and see how they differed.

My Descriptions:

*lots of different cliques of many kinds of people

*around 100 people or so *good mix of both genders in each group

*can hear alternative music playing in the background *few people are sitting by themselves

*around ten people that wearing glasses

*one employee had an interesting beard, made up of different braids

*one girl leaned up against the wall, talking on her phone

*almost everyone was looking at their phone at one point or another

*overall, more men than women *lots of girls in workout clothes

*certain people were being loud and rowdy

*more white people than any other ethnicity

*a good amount of people got up more than once to eat

My Interpretations:

*must be dinner time because a big rush of people came in at once

*people met up with friends before they came, seeing that they all sat together

*certain kids had a good day because of the body language they were using and how they were talking with their hands, they seemed very excited about what they were saying

*because people got up more than once, they were hungry and it was time for their next meal, most likely dinner since it was around 6 o'clock *the girls in the work out clothes probably just came from working out, seeing that they chose to eat a healthy dinner and drink water with their meal

Parking Lot:

*certain groups are friends because they seem like they're messing around with each other, joking, laughing, smiling, just having happy facial expressions, etc.

*the workers here do not look happy, their facial expressions and the sulky body language they used when they were walking around

*the girls in the work out clothes care about their body and want to stay in shape

*the people on their phones are bored with the conversation going on and don't care what the people around them are talking about *one girl thinks that she was cooler than anyone else because of the clothes she wore, the way she presented herself, she brands of the products she used, the way she walked around, etc.

When I shared these descriptions with my friend, his findings were almost completely different. A lot of what he paid attention to was the actual building and detail around us. He noticed that there were a certain number of paintings on the wall and how many windows there were surrounding us and the different foods people were eating. He noticed some of the same minor details that I did, but overall, we saw very different things in our half hour of people watching. Doing this activity made me realize a lot about myself and how I am quick to judge situations without knowing what's really going on. I also realized that in actually making myself watch people, that it is something I do all the time without even noticing. It made me think about how I need to learn to look at a situation and be able to determine what is going on, without letting my personal beliefs get in the way. You have to be professional and able to address a situation in the best way you're able to.