Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain

by Michael Trimble

Human beings are the only species who cry for emotional reasons. We weep at tragedies both in our own lives and in the lives of others--remarkably, we even cry over fictional characters in film, opera, novels, and theatre. But why is weeping unique to humanity? What is different about the structure of our brains that sets us apart from all other animals? When on our evolutionary journey did we first recognize the tragedy of life? When did our early ancestors first cry?

In this fascinating volume, neurologist Michael Trimble offers a wide-ranging discussion of emotional crying, looking at its physiology as well as its evolutionary past. To shed light on why crying is uniquely human, Trimble offers an insightful account of the neuroanatomy of the human brain, highlighting differences from those of other primates, especially with regards to the representation of emotion and the circuitry related to the release of tears. He also looks at the epidemiology of crying (who cries, where, and when) and he discusses why people often feel good after crying and why we have developed art forms--most powerfully, music--that move us to tears. Throughout, Trimble weaves a discussion of Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy, exploring the origin of Tragedy as an art form, and using the images of Apollo and Dionysus as representative of biological and cognitive forces which are integral to the behavior and thinking of mankind. Finally, Trimble reveals that our emotional responses to tragedy--and crying for emotional reasons--have evolved over several millions of years.

The insights found here shed much light on an enigmatic part of our humanity. The book offers a profound glimpse into the human heart as well as deep insight into the role of art in our emotional lives.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science

232 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2012

Reviews

[Katherine Kinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trimble is a neuro-psychiatrist and draws from a broad range of psychological and evolutionary research to explain how and why crying at Tragedy can express feelings of both loss and pleasure. He identifies emotional crying (in sorrow, not pain) as peculiarly human, an act that is deeply tied to the human capacity for empathy. He explains the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of crying in detail that is challenging if, like me, you are not a scientist, but also comprehensible. Emotions and art are closely tied in his view and both capacities are fundamental to human evolution. I found his argument that emotions are necessary to thought especially interesting; emotion embodies thought--"gut reactions" are anatomically true. Central to his argument is to disprove the philosophical opposition of emotion and reason and map their cooperative functions in the brain. He is better on music's ability to make us cry than on theater--he clearly knows music. He does not say much about acting (my interest), but I found it much of what he describes and theorizes to be true not just for the particular form of Tragedy but acting, performance, and even the movies more generally. The book is well organized, with an appendix on neuroanatomy and a glossary I found very helpful. The writing is specific, lively, wide ranging, but not particularly dense.

[Violeta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I expected. Even if it does have some interesting notions and describes the process and offers some explanations from the physiologic process of crying, I do not think that they focus a lot on the title or what the title says it will be developped in the book.

It is a nice and fast read if you only want to know in a very very general way something about a part of the brain structure and how emotions are formed.

[Kristell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite good 😊 veldig fordel om du kan litt hjerneanatomi, men de har også en gloss og index på baksiden. Noen kule teorier og emner, helt okei for å få litt info, men ville ikke lest dem igjen.

[André Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just published a review for this book in Evolutionary Psychology, a scientific journal. Follow the link, and please comment what you think of it: http://www.epjournal.net/articles/we-...

[Naba · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is an amazing book

[Maryam ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the neuroanatomy parts more than the evolutionary differences and such...

Was well written, easy to read and follow.