Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

I guess we do.

It has been shown that people born blind and deaf will show the same facial expressions for the same stimuli as sighted and hearing people. This implies that the repertoire of facial expressions aren't learnt at all - they are built-in, hardwired. A smile is a smile wether you're in 16th centure London or 10th century Hawaii - peoples who never had contact before.

According to various sources, this peculiarity made communication between explorers and natives possible all through the exploration era. There are an incredible range of subtle facial expressions that exist apart from the smile and frown. Basically, the whole forehead is just one big billboard of hardwired data - ever noticed how much of the nuances of somebody's words are lost when their foreheads are bandaged, or the lights are off?

It has been said that the ability to speak have evolved out of the same part of the brain that handles gestures, and that gestures came first. This also seems to be inborn and hardwired (instinctive) - just observe the next guy or gal making a phonecall close to you! The person on the other side of the phone can't see the guy making the call, but here they are, gesturing away like mad people!

Ever caught yourself doing it? I feels so natural...

That's part and parcel of who we are - would that be instinctive? It's not learnt in any way...