Darwin struggled with the evolution of tears: what evolutionary advantage could come of secreting water from the eyes? I thought about this, and suggest the following answer.
Tears are both an expression of sorrow/grief—and also a grand visual display of grief—meant to be viewed by others. Think about what happens when you see someone crying: there is an immediate response from the gut; we feel great sympathy, and if we were angry before, our anger dissipates.
I think this explains why the display of tears evolved: to show resignation and submission to an opponent; to relieve tension between warring individuals—and therefore enhance the weaker one's chance of survival.
Good point. Tears in laughter too have something to do with a display to others—as both tears in sorrow and tears in laughter bring immediate responses from viewers. Perhaps tears help visually reinforce each of these strong emotions.
I doubt very much if 'tears of laughter' have much adaptive significance at all. Read the 'spandrels' work of Gould and Lewontin with regards to the atomization of the body and the adaptationist programme.
__________________ We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act.
I don't always feel sympathy when I see others cry. Sometimes I think its pathetic what they cry about. I might even laugh in their face if I do think its pathetic. So I don't think this applies to everybody. Why did we start crying because we're hurt but the tears come after the cause leaves?
I thought the primary reason for tears was in keeping the eye clean & removing debre from the eyes.
__________________ Funny thing about tracking.
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Isaiah 8:12-13 (NIV) "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread."
Tears are used to cleanse the eye, containing Lysozyme they are effective at killing a large portion of bacteria. However, most pathogenic bacteria have evolved resistance to lysozyme, which is why Florey's work on penicillin bacame such big news in the 1940's.
My idea with regards to tears is quite simple, and is infant-driven but requires tear formation to have already evolved - note I am not discussing how an organism developed the tear secretion system, that is for another thread I thnk.
A young child cries and sheds tears, the mother really needs to comfort the child to reduce the risk of predation. A sequencial driving force ensues, the elders need to reduce a child's cries quickly and reduce the chances of attracting predators.
In short, any population that can quickly recognise a crying child as needing comfort is bestowed an instant (but small) evolutionary advantage.
__________________ "We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further." - Professor Richard Dawkins.
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." - Mark Twain
"The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it." - Robert G. Ingersoll
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