WHY HUMANS LIKE TO CRY:TRAGEDY, EVOLUTION, & THE BRAIN PAPER

by TRIMBLE

Human beings are the only species to have evolved the trait of emotional crying. We weep at tragedies in our lives and in those of others - remarkably even when they are fictional characters in film, opera, music, novels, and theatre. Why have we developed art forms - most powerfully, music - which move us to sadness and tears? This question forms the backdrop to Michael Trimble's discussion of emotional crying, its physiology, and its evolutionary implications.

His exploration examines the connections with other distinctively human the development of language, self-consciousness, religious practices, and empathy. Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the brain have uncovered unique human characteristics; mirror neurones, for example, explain why we unconsciously imitate actions and behaviour. Whereas Nietzsche argued that artistic tragedy was born with the ancient Greeks, Trimble places its origins far earlier. His neurophysiological and evolutionary insights shed fascinating light onto this enigmatic part of our humanity.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science

244 pages, Paperback

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.