Smyth's+Essay+Answer+1

Charles Darwin is a well known 19th century scientist who proposed the Theory of Evolution. While highly controversial, this theory has shaped modern science. Many people know that the Darwin's theory tries to explain the origin of man. However, few realize that he also proposed a theory on the evolution of expressions. His theory is observation based, and has three principles. These three principles are, the principle of serviceable traits, antithesis, and expressive habits.

The principle of serviceable traits is defined as, "useful habits reinforced previously, and then inherited by offspring." This implies that certain expressions are hereditary. An example of this is furrowing one's eyebrows. One furrows their brow to prevent too much light from entering their eyes. In contrast, one raises their brow to increase their field of vision. Darwin also observed that people raised their brow when thinking deeply, as if they were trying to "see" the answer. Widening or narrowing the field of vision is useful to people, so this is an example of a serviceable trait.

The principle of antithesis states that some actions or habits are used because they are opposite in nature to a serviceable trait, meaning they are not useful. Darwin used shrugging ones shoulders as an example of antithesis. This action has no practical use, but is still done by many. People all over the world shrug their shoulders, so it is not a sociocultural expression, and since it is so widespread, it is unlikely cognitive. This leaves shoulder shrugging as a hereditary trait. It fits the principle of antithesis because it is not useful.

Darwin's final principle is that of expressive habits. This principle states that some actions are taken due to a build up in the nervous system. Strong expressions of anger is a solid example of this principle. If one is antagonized for too long, they may scream, swear, or even physically attack the person that is provoking them. This principle is where the term that many use, "This is getting on my nerves." comes from. Darwin also observed this principle in animals. He noticed that many animals rarely make noise when in pain. However, if they are exposed to major, life threatening pain, they will often make uncharacteristically loud noises.

Some research has been done to support Darwin's theory on expression. Paul Ekman (1971) researched universal facial expressions. He presented pictures to participants in his study and asked what emotions were being expressed by the facial expressions in the picture. His participants included people from Western culture, and people with little to no exposure to the West. He used the same pictures for all participants. When asked what emotions were expressed, the emotions: anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and enjoyment were often found to be in common. This means that both Western and non Western provided the same answers for those pictures.

In conclusion, Darwin proposed a supported, observation-based theory on the evolution of expression. With common links across not only cultures, but species as well, it is very likely that expression is evolution based. Also, the three principles of this theory are easily observable in every day life. This makes it easy for one to look for these things on their own, further supporting the theory.