Why Do We Cry?

By Miss Cellania in Science & Tech on Aug 29, 2009 at 12:07 am

Research into the subject of why humans cry (and animals don’t) has produced several theories. Some say it’s to shed harmful chemicals from the body. Others theorize that crying is a holdover from the way infants communicate needs. And some have said that the process just makes us feel better. Now we have a new theory.

“Crying is a highly evolved behavior,” said researcher Oren Hasson, an evolutionary biologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel. “My analysis suggests that by blurring vision, tears lower defenses and reliably function as signals of submission, a cry for help, and even in a mutual display of attachment and as a group display of cohesion.”

Crying as a social behavior? What do you think? Link -via Digg

Tags: crying, evolution, submission, tears

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Josh
Aug 29th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Im sorry but animals cry too. When my dog is sad the eyes get wet just like any person. Just because the fur soaks up the tears does not mean dogs or other animals do not cry.
hmm
Aug 29th, 2009 at 1:32 am
do you cry with your dog josh? maybe only your dog cries because you are his owner…
swss
Aug 29th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Well, Rosie Grier told me when I was little that it gets the sad out of you. And, it washes all the mad out of you.
Snappy Fish
Aug 29th, 2009 at 11:05 am
This explanation seems obvious, and nothing new to me. It’s just couched in behavioral and sociological terms. I think a fuller explanation of why humans cry would be to include how and why the tearing behavior as a sign became attached to the sociological factors. There could be many other possible ways to signal submission, etc. besides occluding eyesight, for instance. It seems the audible aspect of crying would be sufficient.

Yes, I’m focusing on the explanation for tearing, BTW.
felixthecat
Aug 29th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Other mammals produce tears too, but it is impossible to tell if the shed tears are for lubrication or the result of emotions. It seems to me to be highly anthropocentric to say the only a human can shed emotional tears.
Yes, that would include me
Aug 29th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
But what about people who cry when alone?
Kalel
Aug 29th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Why do we STOP crying?
fan
Aug 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
some other studies snappy fish may be interested in:

http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2006/04/study_using_big. php

and

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WP2-45R896W -1F&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_se archStrId=995070420&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_u rlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1825b32731d700d64f2b5c47f47b489c
batterie ordinateur portable
Sep 9th, 2009 at 5:18 am
I think all the three theories are right in their way since nobody can tell when people cry.
Some people cry when happy , some when sad.Some people cries when they display emotion for others.Some times tears comes out when some obstacle is in eye.
Robin Houchens
Sep 28th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
When a baby cries, any normal person nearby rushes over to help, encourage and comfort. There is an attempt to find the baby’s needs, and meet those needs. I really believe that crying is not an evolutionary holdover, it’s just an emotional holdover from infancy. When we have unmet needs, or need comforting, sometimes as adults we cry. This triggers those around us, especially those who love us but really anyone in the vicinity, to ask us if we are ok and attempt to comfort us or help us. We do it less and less though as we get older, except in extreme cases, like emergencies or deaths. Maybe it is because we as adults are the comforters now. Maybe it is because sometimes we cry alone, and no one comes to help, and so the behavior extinguishes. I never cry anymore, except when dealing with my parents,or problems i take to my parents. That, for me, is what proves my point. It is a hold over from my infancy, and there is still a vestige of it that my mind directs at my parents, for comfort.

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