The art of

dissimula
tion

Precis
Reading people was always a controversial subject that intrigued
me very much. Human beings are very complex, therefore things
will never be as easy as pie. There will always be lies, white lies,
dissimulating and manipulating. Wouldnt it be fun if we could
recognize them instantly? I consider dissimulation an art, and those
who practice it, artists. In the following pages I chose to reveal the
details about the peoples mimic and gestures that give them away,
when lying.
From my point of view, it is really fascinating to know how
expressions and body language can be so important and how they
reveal anything you think you can conceal.I think this paper and
what am I to write in it, about micro-expressions it will be really
useful in everyday life situations. I, for example, prefer to know
when I am lied to or deceived. I believe that knowing too much can
be a tough burden but I prefer that, instead of not knowing at all.
The starting point of my paper is represented by a TV show,
Lie to me which is based on the work of Paul Ekman, an American
psychologist who has been a pioneer in the study of emotions and
their relation to facial expressions. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman
(Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept
assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law
enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth
through applied psychology: interpreting microexpressions, through
the Facial Action Coding System, and body language.

Contents
1.Introduction
2.Surprise
3.Fear
4.Disgust
5.Anger
6.Happiness
7.Sadness

1.Introduction
Paul Ekman is a professor of psychology in the department of
psychiatry at the University of California Medical School, San
Francisco. An expert on expression, the physiology of emotion,
and interpersonal deception, he has received many honors, most
notably the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the
American Psychological Association, and is the author or editor of
thirteen other books. He is a frequent consultant on emotional
expression to government agencies such as the FBI, the CIA, and
the ATF, to lawyers, judges, and police, and to corporations,
including the animation studios Pixar and Industrial Light and
Magic. He lives in northern California.
The first focus is on what the feelings look like, in other people's
faces and in your own. Photographs show the facial blueprints of
the major emotions-how surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness,
and happiness are registered by changes in the forehead,
eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, nose, lips, and chin. Common
confusions that plague the recognition of expressions of emotions
are clarified by pictures highlighting the differences between
surprise and fear, anger and disgust, sadness and fear. The
subtleties of facial expressions of emotion are revealed in pictures
that show the family of expressions for each feeling. Surprise, for
example, is an emotion with a big family. There is not one surprise
facial expression, but many-questioning surprise, dumbfounded
surprise, dazed surprise, slight, moderate, and extreme surprise.
The complexities of facial expressions are shown in photographs
of how different emotions can blend into a single facial expression
to show sad-angry expressions, angry-afraid expressions,
surprise-fearful expressions, and so forth.
Facial expression may be controlled or uncontrolled. Expression
may be voluntary, another involuntary; one may be truthful and
another false. The problem is to tell which is which.

2. Surprise

Surprise is the briefest emotion. It is sudden in its onset. If you

have time to think about the event and consider whether or not
you are surprised, then you are not. You can never be surprised
for long, unless the surprising event unfolds new surprising
elements.
There is a distinctive appearance in each of the three facial areas
during surprise. The eyebrows are raised, the eyes are opened
wide, and the jaw drops open, parting the lips.

3.Fear

People fear harm. The harm may be physical or psychological, or

both. The fear of danger, the anticipation of even physical pain,
can often be more miserable than the painitself. Strong fearterror- is probably the most traumatic or toxic of all emotions. It is
accompanied by many changes in the body. The skin of a terrified
person may become pale. He may sweat. His breathing may
become rapid, his heart pound, his pulse throb, his stomach may
become tense and his hands tremble.
There is a distinctive appearance in each of the three facial areas
during fear. The eyebrows are raised and drawn together; the
eyes are open and the lower lid is tensed; and the lips are
stretched back.

4. Disgust

Disgust is a feeling of aversion. Contempt is a close relative of

disgust, but it differs in some ways. Contempt is only experienced
about people or the actions of people, but not about tastes,
smells, or touches.Often disgust or contempt will be experienced
together with anger. You can be angry at someone for being
disgusting.
The most important clues to disgust are manifested in the mouth
and nose and to a lesser extent in the lower eyelids and eyebrow.
The upper lip is raised, while the lower lip may be raised or
lowered; the nose is wrinkled; the lower eyelids are pushed up,
and the eyebrow is lowered.

5. Anger

Anger is probably the most dangerous emotion.Anger can be

aroused in a number of different ways. Frustration resulting
from interference with your activity or the pursuit of your goals
is one route.A second major provocation to anger is a physical
threat.A third major source of anger is someone's action or
statement which causes you to feel psychologically, rather than
physically, hurt. An insult, a rejection, an action which shows
disregard for your feelings, may anger you.
Although there are distinctive changes in each of the
three facial areas during anger, unless changes occur in all
three areas it is not clear whether or not a person is actually
angry. The eyebrows are lowered and drawntogether, the
eyelids are tensed, and the eye appears to stare in a hard
fashion.
The lips are either tightly pressed together or parted in a square
shape.

6. Happiness

Happiness is the emotion most people want to experience.

Happiness is a positive emotion. By comparison fear, anger,
disgust, and sadness are negative emotions, and most people
do not enjoy them. Surprise is neither positive nor
negative.Happiness can be shown silently or audibly. It can vary
from a smile to a broad grin and, at some stage along the line,
there can be chuckling as well, or laughter or, in the most
extreme form, laughter with tears.
Even in the silent happy expression, recognition is
remarkably simple, except perhaps for some of the blends. The
ease in recognizing the happy expression has been shown in

studies of many different cultures. There is a distinctive

appearance in the eyelids and lower face, while the
brow/forehead is not necessarily involved in the happy
expression. The corners of the lips are drawn back and slightly
up. The lips may remain together in a smile, the lips may be
parted, with the teeth and jaw together in a grin, or the mouth
may be opened and the teeth parted in a wide grin.

7.Sadness

In sadness your suffering is muted. You do not cry aloud but

more silently endure your distress.Sadness is rarely a brief
feeling. You are usually sad for at least minutes and more
typically for hours or even days. Sadness is a passive, not an
active feeling.
Darwin wrote of sad persons that they no longer
wish for action, but remain motionless and passive, or may
occasionally rock themselves to and fro. The circulation
becomes languid; the face pale; the muscles flaccid; the eyelids

droop; the head hangs on the contracted chest; the lips,

cheeks and lower jaw all sink downward from their own weight.
There is a distinctive appearance in each of the three facial
areas during sadness. The inner corners of the eyebrows are
raised and may be drawn together. The inner corner of the
upper eyelid is drawn up, and the lower eye- lid may appear
raised. The corners of the lips are drawn down, or the lips
appear to tremble.