Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND
- CHAPTER 2 SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY
- CHAPTER 3 MYSTERIES OF THE MIDLINE
- CHAPTER 4 MERISM AND MODULARITY
- CHAPTER 5 SEXUAL DIMORPHISMS
- CHAPTER 6 SILLY, STUPID, AND DANGEROUS QUIRKS
- CHAPTER 7 MIND AND BRAIN
- EPILOGUE
- APPENDIX: QUIRKS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
- References
- Index
APPENDIX: QUIRKS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND
- CHAPTER 2 SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY
- CHAPTER 3 MYSTERIES OF THE MIDLINE
- CHAPTER 4 MERISM AND MODULARITY
- CHAPTER 5 SEXUAL DIMORPHISMS
- CHAPTER 6 SILLY, STUPID, AND DANGEROUS QUIRKS
- CHAPTER 7 MIND AND BRAIN
- EPILOGUE
- APPENDIX: QUIRKS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
- References
- Index
Summary
Listed here are a few of the most curious behaviors of our species, along with commentaries and references. Some of the reflexes occur in nonhuman species as well (as noted; see Fig. A.1). Several of the emotions were treated by Darwin in his 1872 book Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals [562]. To the extent that those feelings are innate, they must be encoded genetically (cf. [2050, 2120]), and to that same extent they must have been subjected to natural selection. It's unclear how many of them arose as by-products of other traits [1093].
CRYING Infants of many mammal and bird species use extravagant displays to beg for food, express distress, and inform the mother of their health [831]. In these respects, the crying by human babies is akin to the bleating of lambs and the squealing of piglets [59, 2426]. Sobbing in human adults is more enigmatic [1601]. We are the only primate to emit tears while crying [132]. Indeed, we are the only animal to do so [2737].
We do not yet know how our emotions got linked to our lacrimal glands [1476]. The same question can be asked about (1) our chin, which, in some people, quivers before crying, and (2) our throat, which gets a “lump” [2737]. The latter link is also interesting because it usually precludes speaking [612]. Crying resembles laughing insofar as it is partly contagious [612] (cf. [1935]).
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- Quirks of Human AnatomyAn Evo-Devo Look at the Human Body, pp. 147 - 152Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009