by David McRaney
The Misconception: You smile when you are happy.
The Truth: Voluntary and involuntary smiles are different, and involuntary smiles are used to communicate you aren’t looking for a fight.
You don’t have to be a con-man to be a habitual liar. Lying is part of what makes you a social animal.
Being a social animal, you do a lot of communicating with other members of your species – words, gestures, expressions and so on.
Evolutionary psychologists are fond of expressions. Most of them seem hardwired, built-in from birth. This means they show up in all human cultures and in all eras. Sometimes human expressions show up in animals too.
Smiling is one of those universal expressions. Anywhere you go in the world, people smile, and it means the same thing. If you got into a time machine and headed to ancient Egypt, you could probably get pretty far by just smiling and nodding.
Psychologists and anatomists love the smile. Whole careers have been devoted to its study.
For more information on this interesting topic go to: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/09/the-duchenne-smile/
Sunday, June 26, 2011
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