On the Face of It: Darwin and the Evolution of Expression

November 4, 2017 6:42 PM

On the Face of It: Darwin and the Evolution of Expression. An experiment on his son 4-month-old Willy Darwin led Charles Darwin to a lifelong study of how we show emotion - and to breakthroughs in child psychology. The experiment turned out to be an often-overlooked landmark in the history of science.
posted by gudrun (3 comments total)

A fairly well-researched book I read recently, How Emotions Are Made, says that recent research suggests expressions of emotions, indeed emotions themselves, vary considerably not only from culture to culture but from person to person.
posted by Peach at 7:34 PM on November 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

Assuming we're discussing the same thing, Emotions Revealed makes (almost) the opposite statement - facial expressions are pretty constant from culture to culture, with very limited exceptions. (Apparently, Westerners have problems distinguishing between expressions of fear and shock as made by a tribe in New Guinea and vice versa, but other facial expressions are universally understood.)
posted by steady-state strawberry at 9:12 PM on November 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

The description of this "experiment" doesn't conform with any methodology I know of to be characterized "scientific", much less "objective," comparative analysis of biological behaviors between genus. Certainly, scaling the scope of Darwin's observations is grandiose to say the least. Accordingly, I suggest an alteration of the heading implying human -evolutionary import. "My Human Infant and a Captive Orangutan, Cute?" is the more fitting title for hagiography.
posted by marycatherine at 7:02 AM on November 5, 2017 [1 favorite]