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Why Ted Cruz’s Facial Expression Makes Me Uneasy
Psychology Today ^ | Posted Jan 01, 2016 | Richard E. Cytowic M.D

Posted on 02/05/2016 9:31:04 AM PST by entropy12

He’s a brilliant orator with a sharp legal mind. But his expression unsettles me. I know my reaction is visceral and automatic, but as a neurologist it is my business to notice things out of the ordinary and probe them. The Senator’s atypical expressions leave me uneasy.

Skill in reading faces is so fundamental to our species that 54 facial muscles orchestrate its endless nuances, which others read like a book just as we read them. Only some of these many facial muscles are under voluntary control, which is one reason it is so hard to maintain a poker face or counterfeit a smile.

Downturned expressions usually signal disagreeableness or disgust. But I honestly don’t know because such an expression is rare in the context of public presentations that are meant to win people over. He may well be unaware that the message of his body language is incongruent with his words.

(Excerpt) Read more at psychologytoday.com ...


TOPICS: Campaign News; Issues
KEYWORDS: cruz; cruzface; cruzsmile
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To: dforest

Are you asking about Cruz or me? I don’t know if a small rural hospital which may not even be in existence any more would still have a record like that. Maybe? But I do have the horse shoe shaped dent in the back of my head as a memento.


101 posted on 02/05/2016 10:35:12 AM PST by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
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To: Slambat

Good article! I have what is known as a “resting b#tch face. People think I’m angry or mean. I was always asked why I am angry, when in fact I am happy. Once they get to know me, they say I am quite nice. That said, I actually think Cruz has a very pleasant face. I am certainly not going to vote based on looks.

By the way, I wonder what Dr Cytowic thinks about obama’s expressions.


102 posted on 02/05/2016 10:35:31 AM PST by sneakers
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To: Durbin

Nope, this is not about looks, It is far different.


103 posted on 02/05/2016 10:35:39 AM PST by dforest
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To: fireman15

So, you were just speculating?

Okay;^)


104 posted on 02/05/2016 10:36:51 AM PST by dforest
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To: dforest

“Nope, this is not about looks, It is far different.”

Facial expressions. . . . . Such a serious issue.


105 posted on 02/05/2016 10:36:51 AM PST by Durbin
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To: Durbin

If you aren’t interested in the subject, then don’t comment on it. There are other threads.


106 posted on 02/05/2016 10:37:57 AM PST by dforest
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To: Let's Roll

Trump is a character, and has completely self defined his image. Trump is more unique than off-putting. He is the funny haircut uncle that says what you think but you cannot say it at the dinner table. At worst, Trump draws out a quizzical bemusement from folks - that is, unless you don’t like his current politics.


107 posted on 02/05/2016 10:38:26 AM PST by Lagmeister ( false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders Mark 13:22)
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To: dforest

“If you aren’t interested in the subject, then don’t comment on it.”

I am interested. . . in how petty people are. It’s amusing.


108 posted on 02/05/2016 10:39:27 AM PST by Durbin
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To: left that other site
But it is unfortunate that it does, because people are deeper than their physical characteristics.

I was taught this lesson in high school when our school voted for a "colors court" and a "king and queen" every year, which was supposed to honor kids who gave service to the school community, since the sports kids already had trophies and letter sweaters. The kids elected to the colors court typically were members of the Student Council, a lot of the really smart kids or outstanding service-committee kids. Of course a few of the sports stars and cheerleaders got elected to it anyway.

Guess who always got elected king and queen? That's right: the quarterback and the head cheerleader, regardless of what they had NOT done as service to the community.

This phenomenon is one of the reasons the Founders did not want a popular democracy, and put their faith in a representative democracy. That was back when we had a monoculture with universally Christian values; and people used to read essays and the transcripts of speeches in black & wite newspapers to get political information. Now, it's all smoke and mirrors.

109 posted on 02/05/2016 10:45:02 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Who can actually defeat the Democrats in 2016? -- the most important thing about all candidates.)
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To: Suz in AZ

I haven’t even read this article, but have always distinguished between smiling, grinning, smirking, etc. And, to me, Carter was always a grinner.

W definitely has an almost permanent smirk on his face.

And, to me, Cruz also has an odd smirk on his face, and I’ve always been sort of creeped by him even when he was my top candidate before Trump announced.

And then there is just a general expression on a person’s face when they are expressive no emotion at all. I think a person’s facial expression in repose tells something about them.

The old saying I posted earlier: By the time you’re forty, you have the face you deserve.


110 posted on 02/05/2016 10:45:46 AM PST by Will88
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To: Lagmeister

When it comes to identifying a liberal I trust Carter to be an expert of the highest caliber . BANK ON IT !!!!! Anything else is anybody’s guess . Thank you for allowing me to clear this up .


111 posted on 02/05/2016 10:46:22 AM PST by Lionheartusa1 ()-: ISIS is Islam without the lipstick :-()
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To: dforest

Yes, part of my post was intended to be humorous. There is a serious side to this however. Lots of people are trained to asses people’s facial expressions looking for signs of stoke etc... My wife is a nurse and as an emergency medical technician I received a great deal of reoccurring training on using facial expressions especially when looking for signs of cerebral or interracial problems.

Ted’s facial expressions often seem a little out of sync with what he is talking about. Who knows what the explanation is.


112 posted on 02/05/2016 10:46:36 AM PST by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
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To: dforest

Eisenhower was definitely presidential. Shaking his hand (after he retired) was one of the best moments of my youth.


113 posted on 02/05/2016 10:49:12 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Who can actually defeat the Democrats in 2016? -- the most important thing about all candidates.)
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To: zerosix

Then you must not like Cruz telling New Yorkers, that same sex marriage is what they want in NY, he can go along with it. According to Cruz, every state can choose same sex marriage if they want, because it is state’s right according to the US constitution.


114 posted on 02/05/2016 10:49:31 AM PST by entropy12 (Cruz could double as a wind sock)
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To: entropy12

So typical for a Liberal. Don’t like what someone is saying? Attack their demeanor.


115 posted on 02/05/2016 10:50:16 AM PST by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
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To: fireman15
Sorry for the almost humorous typos in my last post. I don't have a clue how intracranial got changed to interracial and Assess got changed to Asses. One of the hazards to posting from an Android phone I suppose.
116 posted on 02/05/2016 10:52:03 AM PST by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
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To: Lagmeister
Conservatives used to say that Jimmy Carter had no credibility, now he suddenly is very credible to Cruz fans.

The same folks who, when Trump promises to do something, say he is exaggerating or lying; but when Trump boasted of his sexy wild past, they say he is telling the absolute truth?

117 posted on 02/05/2016 10:52:51 AM PST by Albion Wilde (Who can actually defeat the Democrats in 2016? -- the most important thing about all candidates.)
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To: entropy12

I guess Hillary’s facial expressions don’t bother this idiot shrink. I guess her psycho actions and personality don’t bother him either. I guess all the things Hillary does don’t bother him.

Guess he isn’t bothered by how the Dems and media never go nuclear with damaging stuff whether true or not about conservative republicans until about two weeks out from the election to plant seeds among all the human turnips out there about how our guys are unfit. He must not be bothered how Hillary will pull out her FBI files that she is known to keep on everyone to get herself anointed with any extra tidbits she has collected on her enemies. Remember it is the seriousness of the charge not whether it is true or not. Just like when they waited until a few weeks before George W. Bush election when they released his old DUI record. D.C. is nothing more than a swamp full of damn snakes.

I mean really does anyone think the Washington players don’t all have secrets to be blackmailed with? HELL THAT IS WHY THEY ARE PICKED, GROOMED AND PLACED IN OFFICE. Think about it. People from sheer obscurity like the dumbass peanut farmer Jimmah Carter from Georgia, goober molestor Bubba Clinton from Arkansas and we can’t forget the hood from Chicago Bam Bam become PRESIDENT. These people couldn’t get and keep REAL jobs yet they rise from their obscurity to the highest office in the land. IT IS THE PLAN.

I will say that if Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are snakes, they are our snakes like it or not and if we are going to keep the Democrat snake out of the White House this time, maybe the cure is to send in our best, meanest snake and hope he is snake enough to displace their snake. In my personal opinion Rubio is a democrat snake planted in our nest to foil our best snake once again. Guess Rubio’s profuse sweating and bi-polar stance on issues don’t bother this shrink. The only thing that bothers this man is Ted Cruz’s facial expressions. JUST WOW.


118 posted on 02/05/2016 10:53:34 AM PST by Cats Pajamas (Trump or Cruz or lose!!!)
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To: Albion Wilde

Yes. Our Founding Fathers were Brilliant.

Unfortunately, back in their time there was no photography, so the only likenesses of them are painted portraits with the grim, tight-lipped, rather creepy expressions that come from sitting too long in the artist’s portrait studio.

And ill-fitting false teeth that probably clicked noisily like dead bones when they spoke!

And creepy little spectacles.

:-)


119 posted on 02/05/2016 10:53:55 AM PST by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: entropy12

That seems to be the attack meme from the racists on the left. He looks creepy. Weird facial expressions. They are all racist maggots on the left, whether they realize it or not.


120 posted on 02/05/2016 10:54:23 AM PST by justa-hairyape (The user name is sarcastic. Although at times it may not appear that way.)
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