Monday, November 8, 2010

Sincerity Secret # 53: Surprise giving way to Fear


























Surprise is the most fleeting of all emotions. The distinction between real surprise and false surprise helps differentiate sincerity vs insincerity. If apparent surprise lasts more than a few seconds, there is at least a component of it that is false or exaggerated. It's almost always is followed by a second moderate to strong emotional response - commonly anger, fear, embarrassment, laughter, relief, or disgust. Here, Aiden Grimshaw (of The U.K.'s X Factor fame)is experiencing fear after initial true surprise. Because surprise is so brief, photos of pure surprise are rare, and most of those examples are blended with another emotion - as demonstrated here with Mr. Grimshaw. Both surprise and fear cause the eyes to be opened very widely - which I call "White and Wide", and with the additional bearing of Aiden's teeth (especially his bottom teeth) in the context of a dropped jaw and a widely open mouth is a sure signal of an of element fear rushing in.

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