Comments on: Smiles of Victory and Frowns of Defeat May Be Hard-Wired in Human Brains http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/ Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Amber http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4029 Amber Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:07:18 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4029 Not all blind kids smile, though. Some do. My son, blind from birth, certainly does. My friend's daughter, also blind from birth, makes almost no facial expressions at all, but still tells the funniest jokes. Mike May (blind from the age of 3), in the book Crashing Through, talks about having to learn to make facial expressions. I'd say there is a part of the brain involved here, something we don't quite understand yet, and anything that sheds light on our evolutionary past or how our brains work is legitimate study as far as I'm concerned. Not all blind kids smile, though. Some do. My son, blind from birth, certainly does. My friend’s daughter, also blind from birth, makes almost no facial expressions at all, but still tells the funniest jokes. Mike May (blind from the age of 3), in the book Crashing Through, talks about having to learn to make facial expressions. I’d say there is a part of the brain involved here, something we don’t quite understand yet, and anything that sheds light on our evolutionary past or how our brains work is legitimate study as far as I’m concerned.

]]> By: Alan McCright http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4028 Alan McCright Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:21:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4028 David Matsumoto has been pummelling this same deceased equine for over twenty years, ( see, for example, "Matsumoto, David. The role of facial response in the Experience of Emotion: More Methodological Problems and a Meta-Analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. April 1987, vol 52, No.4, 769-774.") Apparently in those twenty-plus years, he hasn't learned as much about facial expressions as most of had by the time we entered kindergarten. Watch a really old silent movie sometime: The actors knew all this a hundred years ago. It has been my experience that those blind from birth use the same facial expressions you and I do. There you have it--and for free! I am reminded of the National Institute for Mental Health, which, some years ago--according to Time Magazine and Senator William Proxmire, who bestowed his "Golden Fleece Award" on those involved--spent $97,000 to study, among other things, what went on in a Peruvian brothel, (um, sex for money? Drinking? Carousing? I could have told you that for a lot less than $97,000--in fact, I just did.) Dr. George Primov made some 20 visits to a San Tutis brothel to further his "study." Primov maintains he didn't spend much money in the brothel and, of course, *I* believe him, don't you? I'm sure it was all in the name of science and completely above board. BUT--shouldn't this study have been funded by the *Peruvian* Government? Unless you have a desperate psychological urge to visit Peruvian brothels, why, as an American taxpayer should you fund such a thing? There was also the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration study which spent nearly $27,000 to determine why inmates want to escape from prison. Sadly, the list of such outrageous nonsense seems endless. To think of all the serious, work in non-intuitive fields that could have been funded in the past few decades had the money not been wasted to support hack PhDs and their kid's dentists. I have an hypothesis that cries out for testing: I believe that the sky may be blue--with some variation--in OTHER parts of the world, not just mine. Since I--and my beautiful assistant--will have to travel to London, Paris, Rome, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and other parts of the globe to gather sufficient data to prove or disprove this hypothesis, I will need some major-league funding. Only serious governmental agencies with deep pockets--and no grasp of real science whatsoever--need apply. David Matsumoto has been pummelling this same deceased equine for over twenty years, ( see, for example, “Matsumoto, David. The role of facial response in the Experience of Emotion: More Methodological Problems and a Meta-Analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. April 1987, vol 52, No.4, 769-774.”)

Apparently in those twenty-plus years, he hasn’t learned as much about facial expressions as most of had by the time we entered kindergarten. Watch a really old silent movie sometime: The actors knew all this a hundred years ago. It has been my experience that those blind from birth use the same facial expressions you and I do. There you have it–and for free!

I am reminded of the National Institute for Mental Health, which, some years ago–according to Time Magazine and Senator William Proxmire, who bestowed his “Golden Fleece Award” on those involved–spent $97,000 to study, among other things, what went on in a Peruvian brothel, (um, sex for money? Drinking? Carousing? I could have told you that for a lot less than $97,000–in fact, I just did.) Dr. George Primov made some 20 visits to a San Tutis brothel to further his “study.” Primov maintains he didn’t spend much money in the brothel and, of course, *I* believe him, don’t you? I’m sure it was all in the name of science and completely above board. BUT–shouldn’t this study have been funded by the *Peruvian* Government? Unless you have a desperate psychological urge to visit Peruvian brothels, why, as an American taxpayer should you fund such a thing?

There was also the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration study which spent nearly $27,000 to determine why inmates want to escape from prison.

Sadly, the list of such outrageous nonsense seems endless.

To think of all the serious, work in non-intuitive fields that could have been funded in the past few decades had the money not been wasted to support hack PhDs and their kid’s dentists.

I have an hypothesis that cries out for testing: I believe that the sky may be blue–with some variation–in OTHER parts of the world, not just mine. Since I–and my beautiful assistant–will have to travel to London, Paris, Rome, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and other parts of the globe to gather sufficient data to prove or disprove this hypothesis, I will need some major-league funding. Only serious governmental agencies with deep pockets–and no grasp of real science whatsoever–need apply.

]]> By: Eliza Strickland http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4027 Eliza Strickland Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:46:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4027 Gee, thanks! Gee, thanks!

]]> By: Larian LeQuella http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4026 Larian LeQuella Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:36:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4026 Hippo Birdie Two Ewe! Hippo Birdie Two Ewe! Hippo Birdie Deer Eliza! Hippo Birdie Two Ewe! And Men With Oars! Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!
Hippo Birdie Deer Eliza!
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!

And Men With Oars!

]]> By: Carol Strickland http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4025 Carol Strickland Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:13:51 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/30/smiles-of-victory-and-frowns-of-defeat-may-be-hard-wired-in-human-brains/#comment-4025 Happy Birthday to 80 Beats writer Eliza Strickland (joyful smile)! Happy Birthday to 80 Beats writer Eliza Strickland (joyful smile)!

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