I think it would be beneficial to virons to do some studies on what clothing makes you no threatening when infecting, ads as a hook, or draws in victims. Maybe research on this has already been done.
good.jpg « Last Edit: 2004-06-26 22:14:48 by MerryMilkMan »
Re:How should you dress to maximize your infectious ability?
« Reply #1 on: 2004-06-28 11:57:13 »
I've noticed that when the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses show up on my doorstep for a little ad hoc conversion they usually dress in suits (jacket and tie).
In a business communications course i did for my communication degree we did a fair bit about body language including gesture and posture, as well as suprisingly covering dress and grooming. They gave us all of these reasons of how and why these methods perveyed trustfulness etc... I have the text books around here somewhere (hehehe what a waste) but the generally accepted guidelines (for men - my memory here was pretty biased, i apologise) is to have plain white business shit, diagonal two-colored striped tie (like a school or military tie ~ or not fancy at the least), plain coloured (not checkered or striped) and plain cut (sports or single breasted) jacket with matching shoes. usually darker pants, and a very light coloured hat (cream, light grey, bone, beige, ivory, off-white -hehehe) if at all. A gold or gold plated analogue watch with either gold or leather band with White or gold background. prefferably a single ring or only one ring per hand. no earings or piercings - if you really have to - one gold stud (left ear is mostly acceptable - is usually a local issue) spectacles are an interesting point - they can cover 'lying eyes', or block puppy dog eyes. basically, pupils dilate on exitement, some say they restrict on tension too - i am not sure about the latter, but i do know that spectacles take attention away from the eyes themselves, so it isn't much of a problem to look someone in the eye (and hold them with it), because they aren't taking much notice anyway - or to not look them in the eye when you are telling tall tales -if you are looking someone in the eyes remember to blink regularly or they will feel like prey. smiling and especially showing teeth will show your submission. (if you are angry never show teeth) Some people have been known to use certain solutions on their eyes to dilate the pupils slightly to appear attractive - in the ancient times it was belladonna herb, which is poisonous and can make you hallucinate terribly and go crazy.
these are mostly the same things i have seen from any organizational training manual from McHamburglars to the armed forces and even old police stuff. grooming is usually short back and sides. Facial hair is bad, unless you are older and blonde/gray and chubby (HO HO HO) even a moustache is dodgy (homer simpson: it looks like your hiding from something Flanders). keep you sideburns cut straight- no higher than the top of your ear lobe, no lower than the bottom of your lobe. Now just dont smell of smoke or alcohol (prefferably freshly of baby powder, cinnamon or generic cologne ala old spice or brut 33) and watch your breath.
Buddy, your going to look a million bucks....hehehe you'll blend right in.
Re:How should you dress to maximize your infectious ability?
« Reply #4 on: 2004-11-23 03:14:21 »
Hmm, as far as the Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. go. The problem there is that they're SO predictable in their appearance! They look like stereotypical bible/used-car salesmen and so you can generally see them coming (& thus perhaps take the opportunity to avoid them?!) If (in their specific case) they ever dressed down a bit like, in jeans & a t-shirt. I might be more inclined to believe I was getting myself into a discussion by opening my door, instead of the usual pamphlet-fest lecture! *shrug* That illustrates the difference in societal view-points right there!
My point here is that I highly doubt that there is a dress code which will uniformly impress/non-offend/whatever, everybody, everywhere. Obviously, the answer is to stick to "infecting" the crowds you know/are comfortable in. Whether you travel in business circles and have a wardrobe consisting of Armani suits, or are a gutter-punk and 26 facial piercings, just take the opportunities for "recruitment" as they appear. It is up to you and your life-style as to whether that is over brandys at the Men's Club, or handing out stickers at your local punk-rock dive.
As for a dress code for women? Yeesh. Poll 10 people on whether dresses in an office environment should be above or below the knee, and I bet it'll be split right down the middle. Again, stick to your comfort zones!
Re:How should you dress to maximize your infectious ability?
« Reply #5 on: 2004-11-23 18:23:41 »
Maybe the lesson is that you should dress like the intended audience in order to lower social barriers. I bet the more you look like them the more receptive they will be to your message.
Maybe the lesson is that you should dress like the intended audience in order to lower social barriers. I bet the more you look like them the more receptive they will be to your message.
I would usually say so. Then again, I have a fairly funny story about this:
I started wearing a lenght of pink ribbon about my wrist, sort of, well... In remembrance, reminding me of, something like that... My transsexuality. Some of my friends asked about it after about a week, and I told them. I was thinking, "Hmm, maybe it'll catch on?". A few of my friends started doing the same thing. I went home over the weekend, and came back to a rude shock. -Everybody- was wearing a pink ribbon. Well, not everybody, but a large fraction of the people I met. I was shocked for a bit, until I realized what had happened. To use the virus metapor: The meme had adapted to get itself spread. Its meaning had changed to increase its infectious capability. It changed, over the course of 3 days, from a symbol of transsexuality into just something the local punks did. It's funny, because my friends and I are about as far from the punk scene as can be. We don't look anything like them. But it seems to have spread just as effectively
I must look into this, and figure out if this was the same meme, or if a similar one was introduced that I did not know about. Because if it changed its meaning that quickly, I wonder why this does not happen to more extremely unfit memes? Or does it, and am I just missing something -extremely- obvious?