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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

• DURATION. Counterfeit smiles are sustained for much<br />

longer than genuine, heartfelt smiles.<br />

• ASSEMBLY. Counterfeit smiles are 'put together' more<br />

rapidly than genuine smiles. <strong>The</strong>y are also dismantled<br />

more quickly.<br />

• LOCATION. Counterfeit smiles tend to be confined to<br />

the lower half <strong>of</strong> the face, whereas genuine smiles<br />

involve the muscles that pull up the corners <strong>of</strong> the mouth<br />

as well as the muscles that tighten up around the eyes<br />

and pull the eyebrows down slightly. Counterfeit and<br />

genuine smiles are controlled by different parts <strong>of</strong> the<br />

brain - voluntary centres produce counterfeit smiles,<br />

while genuine smiles are produced involuntarily.<br />

• SYMMETRY. Genuine smiles appear on both sides <strong>of</strong> the<br />

face, whereas counterfeit smiles sometimes appear more<br />

strongly on one side <strong>of</strong> the face (usually the right side).<br />

That's because the neural pathways associated with<br />

voluntary and involuntary facial expressions are different.<br />

If you see a symmetrical smile it could be either genuine<br />

or false, but if you come across a lopsided smile there's a<br />

good chance that it's false.<br />

Although symmetrical and lopsided smiles are quite<br />

different to look at, people tend to react to lopsided smiles<br />

as if they were genuine. That's why we are so unconcerned<br />

about the authenticity <strong>of</strong> smiles - provided other people<br />

smile at us, we don't much care what kind <strong>of</strong> smile we're<br />

<strong>of</strong>fered.<br />

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