Why do humans cry? I'm not looking for the how of it (tear ducts, etc.) or even the immediate reasons preceding it. (e.g. I just broke up with my girlfriend, my father died, I'm not allowed to play video games after nine, etc.) Rather, I'm wondering what sort of evolutionary advantage(s) could be conveyed through crying? On a related note, do other animals "cry"? Even from pain? If so, is it common amongst many species or only a few? If we believe animals do in fact cry (in the human sense), how do we distinguish anthropomorphism from "true" crying? I suppose that an attempt could be made to explain it all as "learned" behavior brought about by behavioral influences, but that premise would tend to make one wonder if crying is universal throughout all human cultures. I mean, is there some tribe from Whacka-Whacka that has no experience whatsoever with the whole concept? As another illustration, I personally believe the perceived tendency (at least amongst western cultures) for women to "cry" more often then men is a social construct, although I'm not entirely ruling out a genetic component here, either. Does anyone have any insight on this aspect? Regardless of whether this phenomenon is limited to humans, subsets thereof, or is spread across a variety of species, my main interest lies in the potential natural selection of this behavior through genetic means, and if so, why? Any thoughts?
It is meant to elicit sympathy from peers and therefore help. Women probably need help more than men.
Couple of thoughts. Anyone who has spent time with animals will have seen evidence of emotional pain in those animals. Obviously they do not cry like humans, but I believe they have their own equivalent. Human crying appears to be a social mechanism. That is, the fact that someone is very unhappy is made apparent to other human observers. This permits socialisation around that unhappiness. Women crying? There are certain people who desire to change their apparent gender from male to female, and oestrogen injections are part of this process. It has been observed that, during this change, the people receiving oestrogen tend to cry more than they used to. This implies that the readiness of women to cry more readily is related to sex hormones. The reverse has also been observed with women receiving testosterone injections becoming less ready to cry and more behaviourally aggressive.
So babies could be found by their mothers. Clearly it evolved in an environment where it was safe to leave the babies unattended. Otherwise crying would be the dinner bell for the predatory cats. Arthur
Thank you both for your input... I quite agree. I have, in fact, spent a great deal of time around many animals and would adamantly concur with the idea of them showing "evidence of emotional pain". I was curious though as to whether any species expressed this pain through "crying". Sounds reasonable. It does seem to indicate a predilection on your part to tend toward the learned behavior theory more so than genetics, or maybe that's just the way I interpreted this part of your post. Hmmmm... Hormones would seem to indicate a physiological mechanism, which would seem to imply a genetic component. Perhaps, like so many things, this is not an "either/or" question, but rather a combination of more than one factor involved. Thanks again, I was not aware of these studies / observations. Do you have any more opinions that may go a little deeper as to how this (crying) response may have began and then how / what reinforced said behavior? (On the genetic side more so than the social influences)
Good points, especially the latter. If this is genetically driven, it would seem that the benefit(s) must be (have been?) fairly strong to outweigh the potential detriment of the "dinner bell" effect. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
All changes are genetically driven. Babies cry because it was beneficial for them to cry. Simply consider the vast differences between a baby chimp and a human baby. The baby chimp comes out ready to hold on as the mother climbs a tree, the human baby is totally helpless and squalling from the moment of birth and remains that way for years. The mother has to be able to put the baby down to forage, and thus crying would be a way to relocate the baby, but clearly a cat is a lot faster than a mother carrying an arm full of berries, so clearly the environment had to be quite a bit safer than the forest or savannah for her to do so. Arthur
Not certain I totally agree with this blanket statement, but perhaps it is a matter of semantics... This kind of begs a question... What sort of environment did you have in mind that would fit these conditions?
Semi-aquatic. Which is why the baby also can swim at birth. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! See the pinched fingers? That's for holding on to the mother's long hair (the other big change between us and chimps). Arthur
Crying in babies is easily explained, many animals make sounds to identify their location and problem to their mothers. I thought the question was more about why humans still cry into adulthood.
My view is that it is the social aspect of human existence that permits a child to be born utterly helpless. Humans are gregarious and tribal. We have a 'natural' tribal unit of 50 to 200 people. Even people who live in cities today tend to have between 50 and 200 friends, family, and colleagues. In primitive times, a baby would be born as part of a tribal unit, which provides protection to the mother and baby. For this reason, it can be born helpless. It is also probably true that humans, right back to Homo habilis,, at least, have had weapons of some sort, for protection. A tribe of 50 to 200 humans or pre-humans, carrying weapons, creates protection against predators. I suspect from watching modern mothers and babies, that the crying of babies is not to allow mother to find it, but to attract attention for a specific need, such as feeding, or relief from discomfort. It would be a very poor mother who did not know where her baby is.
Spot on. I am hoping the thread gets back on track regarding adult emotional crying. As you pointed out, it is rather simplistic to come up with plausible theories as to why babies (of any species) "cry" in some fashion. I'm much more interested in why adults express themselves this way. They do this before, during and after their reproductive years, so I would think some sort of survival advantage is conveyed. Take the greater tendency of crying to occur more often and more intensely in women - perhaps this invokes some sort of "protective" response in men - thereby increasing the chances of survival of both the particular woman in question as well as her offspring. You know, "Me Tarzan, you Jane. Me go kill big bad thing that made poor chickie cry." That kind of reasoning. (Assuming, of course that women do, in fact, cry more often then men and this is not just a sexist stereotype)
One of the big changes between chimps and humans was movement of secondary sexual characteristics to above the waist and many more facial expressions to show anger, fear etc. crying fits in with the general trend as a visible expression of grief. Chimps are also born into tribes, yet the baby has to be able to hold on, and more importantly, keep its mouth shut.
I see you're a "water ape" enthusiast. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (Apparently)
Cute. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (And quite funny, even at the risk of bringing the fem-nazis out from their barracks)
Crying appears to be a social signal. In babies, it calls the mother (or father) to take care of immediate needs. In adults, the signal may be a lot more subtle. I have a personal hypothesis that crying, in some situations, may be a way of telling others about how much you love and care for someone. So, if a woman is widowed, she mourns in a very obvious way. This tells other males that she is a caring and loving person, and therefore would make a good mate for them, once she has gotten over her mourning. Similarly, the loss of a child, and the weeping that follows, tells everyone what a caring mother she is. If her husband says something unkind, and she bursts into tears, the signal to him is rather obvious.
Yes. Too many of our adaptions are aquatic in nature to be ignored. The fact that babies are totally adapted to an aquatic environment and can naturally swim at birth being some of the biggies. When I said it had to be a safe environment for babies to wail and with no way to shut them up, that's a semi-aquatic one. Arthur
There we go. These hypotheses represent the type of insight I'm seeking. Along with the corollary of "If it's beneficial, why haven't other species developed this adaptation?" (Assuming they haven't) Adoucette did take a stab at this part...
I think it may be because when we cry, either from pain or joy, it is an emotional response to those feelings. Part of that emotional response is that heart rate speeds up and more blood (liquid) is pumped around our body. This creates higher blood pressure, which means that some of that liquid needs to be expelled, otherwise we could burst an artery, hence we get the tears and runny nose. A similar thing happens when we exert ourselves such as in exercise; the excess liquid needs to be expelled, only in that case it is expelled as sweat.
