w we're in good shape.

All right. Question for all of you. I was just chatting with the local subscribers before I fired up YouTube, and I'm going to ask you the same question on YouTube. Is body language real? In other words, is it a skill which you can learn and apply, or maybe you've already learned it and then you apply it? Is body language real?

Go. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Okay, looks like we have universal agreement that body language is real.

Question number two. How do you know you're good at reading it? Yeah, you're not so certain now, are you?

Here's my observation. It doesn't matter if body language is real or not for most purposes. It doesn't matter because you don't know if you're good at reading it. That's the problem. The problem is not whether body language is real. The problem is you think you can read it and you can't. You're terrible at it.

It's the same problem with pattern recognition, right? Our brains are pattern recognition machines and we see patterns and we think they mean something even when they don't. That's why we have science, to essentially get around our own illusions about patterns.

Well, don't you think that your pattern recognition is what's driving your interpretation of body language?

All right, so now you all think that body language is a real thing and you got real quiet.

Here's my next question. You ready to have your brain blown off? You ready? You ready?

How many of you listening or watching right now have been accused of feeling something you did not feel because somebody you know misread your body language? How many this week? This week? I'll read your messages. All the time. Most of the time. Me. Me. Me. Yep. Often. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yes. True. True. True. Yes. True. Every now and then. Every day. A few. No's. Every day. Every day. Yes. Yes. Yes. Every day.

All right. Now you see where I'm going here. If body language reading were a real thing, don't you think they'd read your body language right? Don't you think that the people who accuse you of being, let's say, angry when you weren't angry or not interested when you were interested, whatever it was they were blaming you for, don't you think that the person who did that thought that they were good at reading body language? Wouldn't you say probably every person who falsely accused you because they read your body language wrong, I'll bet every one of them thought they did it well, right?

It's sort of like "do your own research." How many of you think that it's wise and notable to do your own research? There's a big story. Most of you have seen it about quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is getting a lot of attention because he was fairly eloquent in describing his process of deciding whether to get vaccinated or not. He decided apparently not to. He thought there were some risks of allergic reactions in his case that might be unique to him. I don't know if that's a thing. Do you? Is that a thing?