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It seems that the human race is the only one that does not feel threatened by eye contact longer than half a second. An accident happened in Rotterdam Zoo earl

by mlok 17y ago

It seems that the human race is the only one that does not feel threatened by eye contact longer than half a second. An accident happened in Rotterdam Zoo early 2007 a gorilla jumped over 4 meter of water to attack a woman who did look too much at him. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/605817/the_great_escape_of_gorilla_bokito/ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/605817/the_great_escape_of_gor... Special weird-looking glasses are now distributed to avoid this kind of problem again. http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/17/gorilla-viewing-glas.html http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/17/gorilla-viewing-glas.ht... This might be linked.

hugh_ 17y ago
Are you sure? Go and stare for several minutes right into the eyes of the biggest, toughest-looking stranger you can find, and see what happens. Eye contact is always an effort to communicate something, and it can easily be interpreted as a challenge.
- mlok 17y ago
  Sorry, what I say was probably not clear enough. I agree with you, eye contact is a way to communicate something. It may be defiance (that's what I meant by "it might be linked"), but it could also be seduction, fear, friendly etc. And we can accept most looks much longer than animals. I just had a strange experience in Paris subway : a complete stranger on the platform (seemed tough) and I on the train did catch each other looks for a good few seconds and ended up smiling at each other. It was not the first time that I put myself in a friendly mood and got friendly looks back at me. Pretty unusual, as shown in this (french) cartoon http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fp4s_18-baston-de-regard_shortfilms http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fp4s_18-baston-de-regard_... (you don't need to understand French to get it)
stevenbedrick 17y ago
The first rule of working with non-human primates: don't make eye contact. The second rule of working with non-human primates: don't make eye contact. The third rule: take a guess. Etc.

by mlok 17y ago

hugh_ 17y ago

Are you sure? Go and stare for several minutes right into the eyes of the biggest, toughest-looking stranger you can find, and see what happens. Eye contact is always an effort to communicate something, and it can easily be interpreted as a challenge.

mlok 17y ago
Sorry, what I say was probably not clear enough. I agree with you, eye contact is a way to communicate something. It may be defiance (that's what I meant by "it might be linked"), but it could also be seduction, fear, friendly etc. And we can accept most looks much longer than animals. I just had a strange experience in Paris subway : a complete stranger on the platform (seemed tough) and I on the train did catch each other looks for a good few seconds and ended up smiling at each other. It was not the first time that I put myself in a friendly mood and got friendly looks back at me. Pretty unusual, as shown in this (french) cartoon http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fp4s_18-baston-de-regard_shortfilms http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fp4s_18-baston-de-regard_... (you don't need to understand French to get it)

stevenbedrick 17y ago

The first rule of working with non-human primates: don't make eye contact. The second rule of working with non-human primates: don't make eye contact. The third rule: take a guess. Etc.