Soldato
you disagreeing with it doesn't make it ridiculous, it makes you not understand what i am trying to get across. i never said a midget can't be agggressive. of course they can. and of course actual threat offered potentially diminishes the smaller the person is (not taking weapons etc into account)
What i said was the perceived threat or level of aggression the other person feels can and does vary depending on the size of the person involved - whether genuine or not. a larger person can create a greater perceived level of intimidation which can make the other person feel they are aggressive. if you don't believe that to be true that's fair enough. i've seen enough evidence during my life to believe it is true in certain situations. i've seen first hand occassions where a smaller person has lashed out for what appears to be virtually no reason or at least completely disproportionate but when asked why they lashed out the reason given on most occassions was that they felt they needed to act first given the size of the other person involved - i don't agree that it was the correct thing to do and you, I or many others likely wouldn't have reacted the same way but the size of the other person 100% played a key factor in the smaller person lashing out. fear does weird things to people. just because you or I don't perceive someone to be a threat, intimidating or aggressive doesn't mean that everyone else will feel the same.
no, actually, it highlights it perfectly. you compared one scenario that likely happens daily with very little chance of any physical confrontation taking place with another likely daily occurence that has a much higher risk of leading to a physical confrontation but because most people don't end up stabbed or dead doesn't get the headlines. my own life experiences tell me that i'm unlikely to get a slap in the mouth from the waiter should i follow them to tell them i find them to be rude and obnoxious but that i need to be prepared to defend myself if i decide to follow someone on a train to give them a piece of my mind, even if i initially have no intention of causing them physical harm. they are 2 totally incomparable scenarios.
it also highlights that you're not getting what i'm trying to explain - which may well be my fault, so apologies for that if that is indeed the case.
i get the impression, and i could be totally wrong here but i feel you're trying to simply apply you're understanding of what aggression is across every situation, sort of a blanket application as it were (given the waiter scenario you mentioned). the reality for me, however, is that someone can feel they are being initmidated even when the other person does not mean for them to feel that way and it will likely vary greatly from one situation to another.
to use the video in the op, looking at just the video as it stands i don't see the victim as overly aggressive or intimidating for several reasons but that doesn't mean the defendant didn't see him as intimidating or aggressive, irrespective of what the victim said. it's all about the individuals perception of the scenario as it plays out. would a woman have felt intimidated if a big dude had followed her to have a word if she had just given him a volley for blocking her path on a train - i'd hazard a guess the answer would be yes possibly - even if the person coming to have a word with her had no intention of getting physical. would a smaller man, an old man or infirmed man feel the same, again I'd hazard a guess at possibly yes. it's how the other person perceives the threat level that determines whether they feel they are being intimidated or are at risk of an aggressive encounter. what you and i perceive it to be from the comfort of a pc or even how we would perceive the situation in real life is kind of irrelevant.
of course it's not automatic aggressively, don't think i have said it is (and if i've given that impression then i shouldn't) it's all down to how the other person perceives the situation. i just think that a bigger fella is more likely to appear intimidating and aggressive to an individual without them actually meaning to or indeed doing anything to warrant the other person feeling that way than a smaller person would. but as above, if you don't believe that to be true, that's your right. as is mine to believe it is.
i'll do a made up scenario to hopefully highlight better what i'm trying to get at......if you're out walking of an evening and some big bloke decides to follow you for a 'laugh' to give you a scare (yes daft i know but does happen on occassion) and you realise you are being followed, well there's a good chance your going to be feeling intimidated and threatened even though the person following you has no intention of confronting you - that's an aggressive act as the person following set out to intentionally intimidate the other - no violence, no hostility required, hell no words even needed. if some short stop decides to do the same, your much less likely to feel any intimidation - at least in my opinion. so size, for me, does play a part in how a situation may appear to someone on the receiving end.
