#876 Face It

Science has been studying the power of expression. As in how the expressions on your face communicate all sorts of things to another person.
On the face of it, it’s a good idea. The hidden language of facial expression is such a fertile field for discovery even the great Charles Darwin studied it.
He wondered whether animal’s faces conveyed some of the same emotions humans did. The answer is, some. As you work your way up the evolutionary tree, facial muscles become more numerous and more complex.
Fish can convey limited expression. Calling someone a fish face often means they are cold and unmoving. And it’s true. Fish can mainly muster an “I’ve sucked a worm in my gills” sort of look. Don’t expect them to cock an eyebrow quizzically like a full-blown human.
One of the interesting facts discovered from facial research is that we all briefly imitate expressions we see on other people’s faces. We do this nearly from birth. It is this unconscious mimicry that many scientists think is the source of empathy.
We see someone smile, mimic his or her smile, and feel like smiling. We see someone frown and the same brief cascade of emotion passes through our subconscious. It is a great non-verbal bonding mechanism.
Researchers used MRIs to determine what was happening in the brain and were able to see that, indeed, people’s mimicry did promote emotional changes. A smile from one person really did make the smile sections and the associated positive emotion sections of another person’s brain fire up.
So then, they used botox. Botox, when administered cosmetically, freezes someone’s frown muscles. When someone frowns at a botox person, she can’t frown back. And she can’t even briefly mimic the frown on her own face or feel it inside her brain.
If everyone used botox, no one could frown or be angry.
Botox is the answer to world peace.
Then again, since botox people can’t feel disapproval, you wouldn’t want to have someone in charge of, oh, say, the US congress who’s facial muscles are frozen.
I wondered why I felt Nancy Pelosi didn’t communicate well.
I thought it was just because she looked like one of the characters in Finding Nemo...
America, ya gotta love it.