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Please help me with my research!
Published on December 28, 2005 By adnauseam In Philosophy
Here is the question I have to research: Why do some people walk into a room/a shop/a meeting etc and command instant attention. Why do some people have a "force" that causes others to react positively and sometimes subserviently, and why are others bumped to the end of the queue/ignored/left out?

What , in fact,constitutes the aura surrounding a popular person (the modern word nowadays is "charisma".)? Is this a magical force? Is it a result of a strong personality (bearing in mind that some people with strong,forceful personalities can be irritating and over-bearing), or is the answer closer to the actual power a person has in life i.e. their exclusive magnetism caused by public exposure. This is the "Ronald Reagan
effect." Reagan was a movie star, he talked "smooth"; he had massive presence at every public appearance; he could have convinced the devil to burn himself up; his voice was persuasive yet relaxing; he had the nerve to call the queen by her first name--and get away with it; he asked Gorbachev to break down his wall with chilling effect---he made Kennedy seem like an amateur.

What about the ordinary man? There are people, young and old, male and female, in positions of responsibility, or simply janitors,soda fountain jockeys or clerks, who make an impact on peoples lives simply because they care about others. Is that the answer? Does the aura come from caring?

Here are the dictionary definitions:

Aura: (abstract noun): A distinctive but intangible quality that seems to surround a person.

Charisma: (abstract noun): A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm. A personal magnetism or charm.

I hope that the word "leaders" is confined to all leaders be they a high school prefect or an order overseer in a Macdonalds.

You can see my quandary: I need an all-encompassing definition that goes further than "an intangible" quality or even a "rare personal quality". I need to get closer to the personality of people who command attention. Are they special and why? Confusion runs around my mind for none of us, in God's eyes, should be special anyway.

You'll say I'm mixed up. Unmix me!

Comments (Page 1)
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on Dec 28, 2005
part of it luck of Birth.  A 5'4" man is not going to have it (usually).  But a 6'2" man will.  But most of it is self assurance.  Plain and simple.  Self Assurance is not arrogance, it is acceptance and faith in oneself.
on Dec 28, 2005
I read once, a long time ago, that people are responsive to air movement. Meaning you can be sleeping in bed and someone walk silently to your bedroom door and stand on the thresh hold and it can wake you up. So a 6'2" man will move more air and be visually more spacial.

However, I was in theatre during college. I am 5'4" tall. You can command the attention of an audience simply by knowing your business. Being so sure of what you know that it makes the people around you want to know it too.

If I walk in to a crowded party, head up, chin high, smiling, and moving constantly on the go.....making eye contact with as many people as possible, I have just commanded the room.

If I walk in the opposite way no one will even notice I am there.

People are drawn to confidence....I know I am even when I try NOT to be....

That's my 2 cents.
on Dec 28, 2005
double post
on Jan 01, 2006
'part of it luck of Birth. A 5'4" man is not going to have it (usually). But a 6'2" man will.'
That's neither aura nor charisma, Dr. Guy - it's height! But seriously, there are far too many short people with these qualities and far too many tall people without them for this to be true.
on Jan 01, 2006
Hmmm, I see some have decided that it's about size. Well, let me tell you about Janice Harrop. Janice Harrop was the director and senior instructor of the Paramedic Program at Brigham Young University- Idaho Campus. She was 5 ft nothing. She was as intimidating as a drill sergeant, yet one of the most caring and compassionate people I've ever known. Her physical features described a frail pushover of a woman, yet at 60, she was still getting down in the cold Snake River for Search & Rescue, or reading the riot act to a student who so richly deserved it (often even me. ;~D ).

Charisma and "aura" is not that complicated. We are chemicoelectric beings. Every other electric thing puts out an energy signature, so why on earth does science have such a problem accepting that we would have one to. Since we all sense the energy put off by others, it makes sense that we interpret that sense just like we interpret every other sense, we assign feelings and emotions to them.

Many in leadership positions learn to control the area affected by this energy. When I was an NCO, anytime I entered a room, people knew it (and not because of a bad smell. ;~D). Janice Harrop was the same way. On the other hand, if I didn't want to be noticed, I usually wasn't.



My mother can see people's auras, that is her brain interpret the energy in the visual. I have never been able to visualize the energy, but I have sure felt it in others.
on Jan 01, 2006
I believe it is a combination of things, but primarily self-confidence. While at barely 6ft tall, I have never lacked in confidence and I am one of those people who tends to command attention and has a "presence". Its part of the reason I have always done well and been promoted quickly into supervision/management roles at places I have worked.

So I supposed what I am saying is that I would define it as a discernable air of confidence and authority.
on Jan 01, 2006

That's neither aura nor charisma, Dr. Guy - it's height! But seriously, there are far too many short people with these qualities and far too many tall people without them for this to be true.

That is why I said Generally.  Height is part of it, but not the sole source of it.

on Jan 01, 2006
'so why on earth does science have such a problem accepting that we would have one to.'
Because there is no trustworthy scientific evidence to date to suggest that we have such 'energy signatures', let alone that others can detect them. Science doesn't have a "problem" with this, it just requires evidence. That's how science works, ParaTed2k.
on Jan 01, 2006
Actually, if you think about it, science does indeed recognize that the body puts off electrical energy. Many medical devices such as EEG and EEC detect these energy signals, specifically from the heart and brain.
on Jan 01, 2006
'Actually, if you think about it, science does indeed recognize that the body puts off electrical energy.'

Well, yes. Every living organism generates electrical energy. This is a long, long way from anything remotely ressembling a 'signature', and - at risk of repeating myself - even if such signatures did exist, there is no reputable evidence WHATSOEVER that others could even detect them, let alone differentiate one from another. (Actually, there is a substantial body of evidence to suggest that they cannot do either.)
on Jan 02, 2006
'so why on earth does science have such a problem accepting that we would have one to.'
Because there is no trustworthy scientific evidence to date to suggest that we have such 'energy signatures', let alone that others can detect them. Science doesn't have a "problem" with this, it just requires evidence. That's how science works, ParaTed2k.


Science is blind to anything it can't quantify. I have nothing against science, but it can't even tell me what triggers cellular mytosis, yet it is triggered by something. Science tells me that all matter is made of elements, and sub atomic particles are matter... but it can't tell me what elements sub atomic particles are made of.

Science then tells me that all electrical things put out energy, our organs run on electricity, so why wouldn't they put out energy? Our bodies respond to other energy output, so what would make science believe that our bodies wouldn't respond to energy output from each other?
on Jan 03, 2006
'Our bodies respond to other energy output, so what would make science believe that our bodies wouldn't respond to energy output from each other?'

Simple. Science 'believes' (if you must use such an intrinsically unscientific word) that we cannot detect the 'energy' within others because no-one has ever conducted a scientifically rigorous experiment that suggests otherwise. Again, that's ... how ... science ... works.

And there are plenty of good reasons to suggest that this is no more than we should expect. For example, if we were sensitive enough to respond to the truly minute electrical levels generated within a human body, every time we were in the vicinity of a power point or an AA battery we would flip our wigs! .
on Jan 03, 2006
and until science learned to quantify it, we couldn't "detect" solar energy, nuclear energy, or even energy emanating from the brain.

I have nothing against science, it is a great method to gain a better understanding of the physical universe we live in. However, no one should claim that science can explain everything. "we don't know" is an important line that any inteligent person should be willing to admit.

We feel the effects of the energy, yet (simply because science can't quantify it) you and others are willing to ignore what you feel. Kind of sad.
on Jan 04, 2006
' and until science learned to quantify it, we couldn't "detect" solar energy, nuclear energy, or even energy emanating from the brain.'
Ah, the obfuscation of language. Do you mean 'detect' within our own bodies, or using scientific instruments? If the former, then this is facile - e.g. regardless of the extent of our scientific understanding, we have always been able to perceive 'solar energy' (as the sun's heat and light). If the latter, then this is an argument FOR the value of science, not against it.

'We feel the effects of the energy, yet (simply because science can't quantify it) you and others are willing to ignore what you feel. Kind of sad.'
Classic cyclic argument: Unsubstantiated statement of 'fact', from which a conclusion may be derived, which in turn is used to reinforce the initial statement. There is no evidence that we 'feel the effects of the energy', ergo there is no evidence that anyone is ignoring anything. It's not that science can't 'quantify' our perception of it, it's that there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that any such perception occurs. To put it another way, this argument is no stronger than saying that those who claim to perceive such energy (and I am not one of them, despite your suggestion to the contrary) are deluding themselves / others. So, not sad at all actually, just balderdash.

'However, no one should claim that science can explain everything.'
I quite agree. Who has done that? Certainly not me. But hey, as all successful politicians know, if you have no good response to a statement, just respond indignantly to a completely different one of your own choosing!
on Jan 05, 2006
if you have no good response to a statement, just respond indignantly to a completely different one of your own choosing!


Apparently we're both good at that. ;~D
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