Submitted 17 hours ago by 58008@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ccd53ba0-c68f-4271-b4f1-abc251ef110e.png
Is it an affectation that they’re trained to deploy? (If so, why?) Or is it just a natural thing that happens in the very specific circumstance of being a politician on the campaign trail, and that’s why no one else seems to do it?
I don’t think I’ve seen it in any other context 🤔
Cheers!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomia
They are taught by “experts” that pointing is an ugly aggressive hand gesture.
It’s silly how some of them do this while simultaneously pushing ugly and aggressive policies.
Gotta make those policies seem friendly and non-aggressive!
That’s neat.
Why does that article contain no references more recent than 1806 though. Is it called something else these days? It seems like there should be more modern information on the practice.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_jive
Not really tho.
And this is safer than “air dicking”.
It’s one of many gestures that are used by trained public speakers as non-verbal communication cues. Here are some examples, including the one you asked about: qz.com/…/a-guide-to-ted-talk-hands-seven-signatur…
There are many more beyond those. Using hand gestures in public speaking has been around since at least classical times.
They all go to Ivy League colleges, and they all take the same public speaking classes.
It’s a big club, but we’re not in it.
This is the real answer.
There are very few configurations of the hand and fingers that aren’t offensive to someone. This one is one of the last few remaining, with “thousand points o’ laght”, a list that doesn’t include “yuge” or the double “okay” sign.
So everyone does it.
“How dare you insult me with your flaccid mockery of a fishing pole grip, you will pay for your insolence”
I wanna say I’ve heard that be referred to as the “Clinton thumb” since Bill Clinton did it a lot when president.
I’ve heard that before too but being an old bastard, I’m pretty certain Clinton didn’t do it until after he was debating Bob Dole. Bob Dole used this gesture because he held a pen during debates. And he held a pen in his dominant hand because he had an injury in WWII and the way his hand curled made him look weak.
I remember it as a Dole gesture originally, too
It’s the I’m-pointing-at-you-with-a-pen-but-I-forgot-my-pen gesture.
It’s so other lizard people know.
“People who are more emotive with their gestures than me must be fake”
“People who are less emotive with their gestures than me are robotic lol”
Most people hold both of those views but have wildly different levels of emotiveness… The result? Posts like this
My guess is that they’re accustomed to holding note cards and it’s just a reflexive stance after a while
It’s a wand. They are actually enchanting you, the first spell always makes the wand invisible. That’s why you never see it.
It’s more of a public speaker thing than just a politician thing, but… Well, politicians are all public speakers, so it makes sense that that’s the context you’ve seen it in.
It’s literally a practiced gesture - public speaking makes use of some gestures that telegraph well to crowds, but seem unusual otherwise. IIRC, that fishing rod grip is an alternative to gesturing with a fist - it looks less aggressive, but gets the point across.
their fishing rods are invisible for you? including the hook and line? that must be rough. how do you avoid getting caught when you can’t even see them?
It’s not a fishing rod, it’s something much more personal
Like… your favourite PH2 driver?
Torx is superior. I could accept Robertson as well.
I always thought it was so comedians can do impressions of them.
Esoterically speaking, it is a modification of the sign of the fig—a vaginal hand symbol indicating that you are creating with your words. The traditional sign of the fig has the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which you see Bill Clinton do a lot. Others put the thumb on top, I imagine for plausible deniability of being satanic or something. The gesture is very old, going back to Ancient Greece or earlier.
Historically, politicians have been influenced by groups such as the Masons and the Rosicrucians who would have been aware of the meaning of these gestures, and then it filters down over time to become standard political gestures for people who aren’t aware of their origin.
this could be total bullshit but i wouldnt know. seems legit but ya know? lacks references but has the air of authority
I’m a practicing occultist, so my knowledge of the gesture is from that angle. I’m at work right now, so I can’t drag up the best sources at the moment, but here’s a Wikipedia article about it:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_sign
And here is a Wikipedia article about hand gestures that mentions the “Clinton Thumb” under the single handed gestures section:
I believe I first heard the Masonic political connection from Lon Milo DuQuette, who I believe is a Mason as well as a practicing occultist like myself. He has over 1000 videos on occultism on YouTube, and I think I probably heard it from there as well as other sources about occult hand gestures.
For the record, I’m not saying it is an occult gesture to imply any conspiracy—just that the history of Masonry and other occult interests in politicians over history have led to certain themes and gestures blending in to the common political vernacular.
The “counting money” gesture? You still have to ask this?
Public speaking is a performance and like any performance some people are good at it and some become good at it and some aren’t really good at it.
They learn it at The Bohemian Grove.
It’s a natural resting form for our lizardian overlords.
In my non edumacated knowledge, they pretend to whip the heard into believing what they spew.
Air-dicking is a hard practice to break free from, ig… easier to retrain into air-fishing
It’s a conductor’s baton.
You got me thinking. Pretty sure I do this when addressing groups, like teaching a class in the workplace. Maybe I finger point in place of the fishing rod? Next time I hold a talk, I’m going to record it.
They are trying to appear human. Somehow that seems to involve cathing invisible fish.
It’s all about portraying authority and trying to give off the “trust me” vibe.
I’d love to see an interviewer respond with a bizarre hand gesture in response.
Of course, by now, this has become an aggressive hand gesture.
even cats don’t like to be pointed at
Because concertina hands are too nazi-ish
It’s rude to point, and they all have arthritis.
yum_burnt_toast@reddthat.com 16 hours ago
from what i remember, they are coached to do it because pointing is seen as too aggressive but not making any hand gestures is too robotic. so its a way to make a non-aggressive emphatic hand gesture.
Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 hours ago
Which, ironically, makes them seem even more robotic
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Only to people who are actually paying attention to a lot of politicians and likely looking exactly this up.
For the majority of the public? it is just “good public speaking”.
TheV2@programming.dev 14 hours ago
Thanks for pointing that out.
the_q@lemmy.zip 15 hours ago
Marketing is always the answer.
RaoulDuke85@fedia.io 13 hours ago
I feel it also adds cadence to a speech, which can help people listen more to what you’re saying.