Part 1

Why is touch important?

Studies show that touch contributes to mental and physical health to both children and adults. During childhood, touch in importance as it develops a healthy relationship between a mother and her baby. When the child gets tough, he or she becomes stimulate and the stimulation helps in development. A psychologist known as Harry Harlow proves the importance of touch by conducting experiments. The results of his experiments show that intimate body contact or in other words 'mother-child bonding' is important than feeding. The nurturing touch makes the child feel safe and secure, hence physical and emotional security. Harlow's work sheds light on the importance of love and reveals that the skin-to-skin contact between a mother and the baby increases the mother's relaxation and supports a child's development.

 Touch is not only important during childhood but there is evidence that during adulthood, women need a supportive touch. Touch by a stranger is seen as a negative touch and act of invading one's privacy. However, a touch between people in intimate relationships has beneficial effects. For example, women enjoy touch and develop a feeling of security, affection, and comfort. Individuals in an intimate relationship improve relationships in that both develops a feeling of connectedness. Non-intimate individuals also enjoy non-aggressive touching such as a hug, the waist embrace, the shoulder embrace, the body support, and more. Note that this type of touch symbolizes solidarity and touch strengths the bonds of friendship. Another important point to note is that touch is important because it acts as a type of nonverbal combination between different people. For example, touch in a professional setting allows people to exchange messages. Touch in a social setting is seen as societal norms and people whether in same-sex interaction or not feel comfortable.

Finally, touch is important in the elderly. First, it is important to note that the elderly develop postural sway as a result of a deficit in visual information. As people grow old, their sensory system deteriorate resulting in a lack of postural control. However, light touch provides sensory information and increases postural stability.

Part 2

How are unattractive, insecure, or obese people treated unfairly in this culture?

 Societies such as North America perceive obese people as lazy, unintelligent, unsuccessful, and other forms of stigma and prejudice. Obese people are not socially acceptable in society. They are discriminated in all settings including education setting, in the courtroom, in the workplace, and other settings. For example, society relies on the perception that people are overweight as a result of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. They are blamed for their appearance simply because everyone has a personal responsibility to take care of own health.

 Studies have shown that unattractive people are treated cruelly and unfairly. For example, in the courtroom, unattractive defendants are more likely to be found guilty. This means that society looks at physical appearance and this reveals a potential flaw in society as well as in the judicial process. In the workplace, attractive employees receive positive comments from their employers since the organization focus on attractiveness rather than job performance and ability. In school, unattractive children are discriminated in that teachers interact with attractive children. Thus, unattractive children are likely to develop mental issues and later they may develop behavioral issues. Overall, physical appearance determines how one will be treated. If you have a pretty face, the society will treats you fairly and if you have an ugly face, you will experience all types of biases and cruel treatment. For example, the reward theory states that in an interpersonal relationship, people are likely to associate themselves with attractive people since they believe that such people are honest, successful, and have other desirable characteristics.

Part 3

What does this spoof tell us about our expectations of Ted Talk speakers?

This spoof tells us that public speaking is all about impressing the audiences. Audiences are interested in your look and sounded. Talk speakers are expected to give a standing ovation. However, it is important to note that as a speaker, you must make the audiences keen and attracted to you.  From the TED TALK by Pat Kelly, one can notice that the speaker is confident. He makes eye contact and gestures (counting the number of items using fingers). These two elements build trust and help the audiences get the main points. To get a standing ovation, TED TALK speakers are expected to engage the audiences. Pat Kelly engages audiences and makes their mind active through sharing personal experiences. The speaker also controls the mind of the audiences by using images. This strategy makes audiences became interested in listening. Pat Kelly also reminds Ted Talk speakers that they should be simple or in other words, they should avoid delivering complex things. Ted Talk speaker should be clear and provide interesting ideas. Note that audiences want to enjoy the talk and thus, the speaker should present clear and memorable information. Finally, audiences lose attention and therefore the speaker should maintain the attention by using humor. In general, a thought leader is someone who connects with the audiences in a meaningful way.

 

 

References

 Attached source

Ted Talk https://youtu.be/_ZBKX-6Gz6A