156 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
Charles Darwin held that many expressions come from habits that once served a purpose, such as the three chief principles he sets out in the first chapter. Expressions can outlast the reason they first existed.
Charles Darwin's principle of antithesis suggests that opposite moods often show up as opposite postures. A relaxed, friendly stance is often the reverse of a hostile one, and people read these signals without being taught.
Charles Darwin noticed that the body reacts to strong feelings without waiting for the will. Blushing, trembling and changes in the skin show what someone feels even when they try to hide it.
Charles Darwin observed that people of very different backgrounds show many of the same expressions. Recognising a face or gesture is largely instinctive, so most of us can read a stranger's mood without a shared language.
Charles Darwin noted that Sir Charles Bell's real service was showing how the movements of expression are tied to breathing. He also showed that the muscles round the eyes tighten during hard breathing out, to protect the eyes.
Charles Darwin held that a list of how a face looks is not enough; a good account must also explain why each muscle moves as it does under each feeling. Flowery descriptions that never explain the cause add little understanding.
Charles Darwin warned that confident explanations which are really just fancy can be worse than none. He quoted Le Brun's theory of fright as an example of nonsense dressed up as science, so claims should be tested, not admired.
Darwin praised Duchenne for studying each facial muscle closely and for showing which muscles are hardest to control by the will. He also noted that a careful researcher can be right even when some of his claims are overstated.
Darwin held that many gestures, like a billiards player nudging a wayward ball, come from long habit: we repeat the body movements that once worked, even when they no longer do anything. Habit can explain behaviour that looks purposeless.
Darwin suggested that a dog's pricked ears and fixed gaze are linked because the two actions were repeated together for many generations. A simpler habit-based explanation is often better than a mystical idea of sympathy between body parts.
Charles Darwin noted that Bain saw expression as part of feeling itself, a general spreading of excitement through the body. Darwin judged this too broad to explain any particular expression.
Charles Darwin held that many expressions grow out of the actions that feeling would naturally bring on, such as the cries, tremblings and tensed muscles of fear. Spencer's law is that strong feeling spills over into bodily action along the most habitual nerve routes.
Charles Darwin argued that a feature shared with other species, such as the facial muscles we have in common with apes, is unlikely to exist only for display. Before assuming a single purpose, look for the other jobs a thing might do.
Darwin argued that animals, like the dog greeting its master, show real emotional expression, so claiming it is only instinct or will is too narrow a view. Careful observation should replace a quick assumption that the matter is settled.
Darwin held that if each species is seen as a separate creation, the question of why we show emotions is closed off and nothing is really explained. Viewing all creatures as gradually changing from common ancestors opens up useful investigation.
Darwin warned that sympathy during a strong emotion and our own expectations both make careful observation harder, since we easily see what we expect to see. He recommended watching infants first, because they show feelings more plainly than adults.
Darwin held that the best way to learn about extreme emotion was to study people who give their feelings uncontrolled vent, and he gained much from an expert who shared notes freely. Learning from a generous specialist can speed up your own understanding.
Darwin found that viewers who saw photographs without any explanation disagreed widely about what the faces showed. He also saw that once he read the intended meaning, he judged the pictures far more truthful, showing how easily our imagination misleads us.
Darwin reasoned that if the same expression appears across very different peoples, it is probably natural rather than learned, since learned gestures would vary like languages do. Look for patterns that hold across different groups before trusting a conclusion.
Darwin asked his questions in a way that favoured actual observation over memory, and he admitted later that his queries could have been much better written. When gathering evidence, ask for what people have directly seen, and be willing to say your method could be improved.
Charles Darwin held that answers resting on a written record of the circumstances and the expression itself deserve more trust than bare yes or no replies. Vague general remarks count for less.
Charles Darwin held that watching animals is a safer guide than watching people, since animals are less shaped by imagination or convention. Their expressions give a firmer basis for working out where behaviours come from.
Charles Darwin held that observing expressions is hard, because fleeting changes, distraction, imagination and long familiarity all bias what we think we see. He stressed checking what we believe against careful evidence.
Charles Darwin held that a theory is best tested by checking whether the same principle also explains related cases, including animals as well as people. A good idea should hold up across the wider evidence.
Charles Darwin held that a question should be approached with a fresh view once a working belief forms, so he reframed each expression as something needing its own rational explanation rather than accepting a fixed answer.
Darwin's approach was to test an idea by gathering many careful observations from people across different places, not by relying on a single authority's account.
Darwin noted that people often hide their feelings around strangers, so observers must be patient and trusted before they can read what is really going on.
Darwin valued a habit of careful, detailed observation, showing that a skill built in one field, such as botany, can sharpen judgement in another.
Charles Darwin noted that the facial muscles vary a great deal from one person to another, in both their structure and what they can do. So any single textbook picture only describes the typical case.
Charles Darwin held that useful actions tied to a state of mind become habits, so they keep happening under that state even when they no longer serve any purpose. Muscles least under the will are the most likely to slip out.
Charles Darwin held that when a directly opposite state of mind arises, we tend to make movements that are the opposite of the earlier ones, even though those movements do no good.
Darwin held that habit makes complex movements easy over time, and that repeated use can even be passed on to offspring, as with trained gaits in horses and pointing in young dogs.
Darwin noted that an inherited tendency often needs some practice in the individual before it works well, since young dogs may point at the wrong scent. Good results depend on both inheritance and experience.
Darwin quoted Bain's principle that actions and feelings occurring together tend to become linked, so that one later brings the other to mind. Many everyday habits, like putting on gloves without thinking, come from this.
Darwin observed that people often scratch their heads, rub their eyes or cough when perplexed or embarrassed, as if relieving a small discomfort. Many of our habits are small ways of responding to our own inner states.
Darwin noted that we often shut our eyes or turn away from things we reject, and raise our eyebrows when trying to remember something, even when there is nothing to see. Our bodies tend to act out our thinking in ways we rarely notice.
Darwin observed that we often copy or mirror the movements of people around us, such as clearing our throats when a singer is hoarse. Much of what we do in company is driven by imitation and sympathy rather than deliberate choice.
Darwin explained that many actions, such as coughing and sneezing, happen without thought, and even a decapitated frog can wipe off acid with a leg. Some behaviour that looks intelligent runs on automatic nerve responses.
Darwin observed that acts we perform by will are often weaker and slower than the same acts done by reflex, because the conscious mind takes time and effort to act. Deliberate effort can get in the way of what the body does best.
Darwin's wager showed that a strong wish to succeed can stop a natural reflex from working. Trying too hard at a simple, automatic act can make it harder to do well.
Darwin found that resolving calmly not to flinch failed the moment a threat seemed real, because reason alone cannot override what the imagination believes is danger. Fear is often stronger than logic, so plan for that rather than trusting willpower alone.
Darwin observed that his infants started at sudden sounds but did not blink, and he reasoned that a reflex learned by experience over many generations could be passed on before it is needed.
Darwin suggested that some actions first done on purpose, such as expelling an irritant by sneezing or coughing, can become automatic reflexes over long habit and inheritance.
Darwin argued that some reflexes, such as the iris narrowing in bright light, cannot have been learned by the will and fixed by habit, so they need a different explanation.
Darwin held that reflexes, like other bodily traits, vary slightly, and useful variations tend to be kept and passed on, so a reflex built for one purpose can later be adapted to another.
Charles Darwin held that many habits are inherited movements that once served a purpose, such as a dog turning round to flatten grass. Such habits are often repeated long after they have stopped being useful.
Darwin observed that a habit can be triggered by circumstances where it no longer fits, such as a dog crouching when it sees a distant stranger on an open road. Actions can outlast the situations that first gave them a point.
Darwin noticed that the dog's habit of scratching backwards after going to the toilet is a leftover from an ancestor that covered its waste, even though dogs no longer do this. Some habits are kept for a very long time without any clear use.
Darwin observed that a terrier will toss, roll on and worry a biscuit as if it were prey, which suggests that a habit can supply a feeling of value that the situation lacks. Habits can run on their own logic rather than on what the mind knows to be true.
Darwin noticed that a horse rubbed on the neck will move its jaws as if nibbling another horse, since it could never reach its own neck. Expressions can be stirred by a stimulus that the animal cannot actually act on.
Darwin observed that a habit can be set off by the wrong cue, as when a kitten scraped ashes over spilt water, or shook its feet at a sound of pouring. Routines fire on signals that look like the real trigger, not only on the real thing.
Darwin saw that a movement which began as a feeding action, kneading the mother for milk, can later become a sign of comfort, as with cats pounding a soft shawl while purring. Over time, an old action can turn into a way of showing a feeling.
Darwin noted that some useful actions, such as a chick pecking at food, can be triggered by a simple cue like a tapping sound, not by sight or smell. Many skilled habits run on a single signal, so the cue matters as much as the skill.
Charles Darwin held that a movement which once served a feeling becomes habit, and can still appear faintly when that feeling returns, even when it does no good. Under strain, the will gives way first on the muscles it controls most.
Charles Darwin held that the principle of antithesis means a strongly opposite state of mind tends to produce movements opposite to those of the first state, even when those movements serve no purpose.
Charles Darwin observed that a dog's friendly greeting is the reverse of its hostile stance: a relaxed body, lowered tail and smooth hair, where the threatening dog stands stiff and upright. Such signs are easier to read once you know the opposing state.
Charles Darwin noted that a cat's anger and its readiness to fight show in a crouch, lashing tail and flattened ears, and that a leaping predator shows much the same signs. Reading body language means comparing a creature's posture against its likely intention.
Charles Darwin noticed that a dog's gloomy look at being turned away from a walk was the opposite of its joyful bearing, showing how a small disappointment can change a whole posture at once.
Charles Darwin observed that social animals depend on being understood by one another, so gestures and expressions matter greatly to their survival and to getting along together.
Charles Darwin held that a gesture can be inherited even if it began as a deliberate act, since habits repeated over many generations may eventually become innate.
