Nonverbal relation can be established through a sign of shared inquiry

Evidence

That time he didn’t answer, but the second or third time around (since without being insistent 1 was insisting) he replied with a sign that was minute, at least to my eyes; for this gesture was perhaps the utmost he was capable of expressing: ” understand what you are attempting to undertake. Vou are trying to find out why 1 walk like thisnot-here. 1 accept your trying. But look around and see ifit’s worth explaining. Are you, yourself, worth my explaining this to you? So, let’s leave it at that. We have gone as far as we can together.” l was inordinately proud to have gotten this answer. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 630

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mutual eye contact is inherently reciprocal and self-revealing; Perception grasps the Other’s gesture as a whole-body structure, not as parts plus judgment — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 903; Mutual wariness of observed and observer makes attention a joint encounter — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the…, 380 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Mutual eye contact is inherently reciprocal and self-revealing #exemplifies (0.80)
• Perception grasps the Other’s gesture as a whole-body structure, not as parts plus judgment #exemplifies (0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 903
• Unilateral, non-reciprocal communication can coordinate both parties’ expectations #qualifies (0.72) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 201
• Mutual wariness of observed and observer makes attention a joint encounter #exemplifies (0.70) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 380
• Body language overrides even legitimized interaction openings #qualifies (0.70)