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How does this theory explain the act of crying in private? The theory explains why someone would want not to cry in front of people (loss of prestige/dominance

How does this theory explain the act of crying in private? The theory explains why someone would want not to cry in front of people (loss of prestige/dominance), but not why someone would want to cry alone, in private.

Analemma_ 10y ago
That's not how evolution works. If evolution builds a mechanism to make you respond to a certain stimulus in a certain way, then it's more work (and more unlikely) to then make that mechanism only act under certain circumstances. We wouldn't not cry in private unless there were additional fitness advantage to it.
- sillysaurus3 10y ago
  The appendix seems to be a counterexample to this philosophy of evolution. Useless body parts exist. What are the chances there are no useless behaviors? (By "useless" I mean "no fitness advantage.")
  - cauterized 10y ago
    Not sure I agree wholly with the GP, but recent theories suggest that the appendix does in fact serve a useful purpose. It can act as a reservoir for gut bacteria that are necessary to our digestive health. It helps repopulate gut flora when they get wiped out by illness (often caused by other bacteria) that causes a bad case of the runs.
woodandsteel 10y ago
I agree that science can't explain everything. But I think that for every individual case, you need to make a sincere attempt to come up with a scientific explanation and then fail, before you can decide it is a mystery.
deleted 10y ago
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BurningFrog 10y ago
The theory is that we involuntarily cry under certain conditions, to leave physical evidence of those conditions later. So one answer to your question is that you never know if someone will come by and look at your face in a few minutes.
erroneousfunk 10y ago
Why do we laugh or smile in private when we're watching something funny? Why do we say "Ow!" when we're hurt, or scream when we're startled? Why does our body posture change based on our mood, even when no one's around to watch? Adding in an extra check that says "if (someone is watching) { ... do this signaling thing ... }" more costly than just doing it.

Analemma_ 10y ago

That's not how evolution works. If evolution builds a mechanism to make you respond to a certain stimulus in a certain way, then it's more work (and more unlikely) to then make that mechanism only act under certain circumstances. We wouldn't not cry in private unless there were additional fitness advantage to it.

sillysaurus3 10y ago
The appendix seems to be a counterexample to this philosophy of evolution. Useless body parts exist. What are the chances there are no useless behaviors? (By "useless" I mean "no fitness advantage.")
- cauterized 10y ago
  Not sure I agree wholly with the GP, but recent theories suggest that the appendix does in fact serve a useful purpose. It can act as a reservoir for gut bacteria that are necessary to our digestive health. It helps repopulate gut flora when they get wiped out by illness (often caused by other bacteria) that causes a bad case of the runs.

woodandsteel 10y ago

I agree that science can't explain everything. But I think that for every individual case, you need to make a sincere attempt to come up with a scientific explanation and then fail, before you can decide it is a mystery.

deleted 10y ago

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BurningFrog 10y ago

The theory is that we involuntarily cry under certain conditions, to leave physical evidence of those conditions later. So one answer to your question is that you never know if someone will come by and look at your face in a few minutes.

erroneousfunk 10y ago

Why do we laugh or smile in private when we're watching something funny? Why do we say "Ow!" when we're hurt, or scream when we're startled? Why does our body posture change based on our mood, even when no one's around to watch? Adding in an extra check that says "if (someone is watching) { ... do this signaling thing ... }" more costly than just doing it.