ABOUT SMILE AND grin

There is such a human belief that a smile is a very useful and correct mimic action. What is it, they say, the expression of the best human feelings, emotions, state and other delights of human nature. And, as soon as they don’t paint all sorts of udybki, and what properties they just don’t attribute to them. And they draw them and take pictures, even learn all sorts of their options. And all sorts of * soul scientists *, psychologists and other public swarming in the human mind persistently promotes its frequent and almost constant use. But no one has precisely formulated what it is in its essence. There is indeed an attempt to match the smile to the grin and its origin from it. Here, let's figure out what is what. What is a grin and what is a smile. To begin with, each animal species has its own sign language, tactile language and facial expressions. Which, in fact, is one of the elements of sign language. Tactile language is used mainly by guys like insects, perhaps in some forms by reptiles and asps. They probably have a sign language and they have some version of it. But these guys are all far from us human beings and we will not fall for them. Any warm-blooded creature is closer to us - birds and animals, one of the species of which, in fact, we are. And we, like them, have a language of tactile touch, a language of gestures and facial expressions. Each type has its own. Ours has ours. So, leaving aside the languages ​​of gestures and touches, and dealing only with facial expressions, we will see that not a single species has such a phenomenon, such a way of expressing information as a smile. Everyone has a grin, even birders. Who use the opening of their beak as a threat gesture. Herbivores also have it, who have seen embittered horses, goats, and other * munchkins * he knows. It is understandable fangs, teeth, beaks are weapons, so it is demonstrated by a grin. And the demonstration of weapons is a warning of intent. Intentions, to resolve the conflict that has arisen in any way, up to the destruction of the opponent. This mimic gesture also has an interspecies universal meaning. It is understood in the same way by animals of completely different species. But smiles, as I said, are not in the mimic language of nature in general, in the very essence. Again, in order to understand why, it is necessary to determine how a grin differs from a smile. Since animals do not have a mimic gesture - a smile, I will analyze this using the example of human beings. Smile - the lips move apart with the muscles of the cheeks, which forces them, the upper one to rise slightly, and the lower one to lower slightly, thereby exposing the teeth a little. Such an action cannot be performed by a beast due to the lack of cheeks. Grin - the muscles of the nose tighten, wrinkling it, and thereby raising the upper lip, thus demonstrating rudimentary fangs. The grin of animals is technically carried out in exactly the same way. Only fangs are not rudimentary. The mirror is in the use of everyone, you can study this difference in your own reflection. With a grin, I hope everything is clear, but where did *smile* come from? Try again at the mirror to breathe very intensively, as if you had given all your best on a fast run. You will see that the cheeks involuntarily stretch to increase the flow area of ​​the mouth, to facilitate the flow of air. To do this, the beast simply needs to open its mouth wider, it does not have cheeks. In what situation does both the beast and the human being experience such * oxygen hunger *. Only as a result of very intense movement with the inability at this time to actively replenish the supply of oxygen in the muscles. That's right, it's a fight. And the loser breathes like that. The winner, even if he is very tired, cannot afford this, he is forced to maintain an aggressive state longer than the loser. From this it is clear that *smile* is a gesture of ending the battle, admitting defeat, a gesture of subordination. Maybe someone will immediately remember how a human being involuntarily begins to smile at other human beings who at the moment have a dominant position relative to him. I police, for example, an official who solves his needs, hooligans pestering him, all sorts of * controllers *, inspectors and other similar public. This is how an unconscious desire is manifested to show one's *subordinate* state, one's recognition of its supremacy. A smile is a mimic gesture of a *weak* addressed to a *strong*. They can object to me, well, for example, if a guy smiles at a girl? Yes, the same thing, a demonstration of humility, deceitful, but humility. Animals of other species do not smile at their *girls*, but simply take the withers with their teeth, and *love* them. Why, for example, does an artist smile at the audience? Yes, he gives her a signal, * I'm yours, I'm squirming here for you *, in the expectation that his * winners * will show generosity to the * defeated *, and put mani in a hat. Any * service *, even oblige * master * to smile. All sorts of scammers and swindlers do all their deceit only with a smile and work, pretending to be simpletons - * you say, we are in charge here *. Well, yes, you yourself will find such examples immeasurably. And so that it would be completely clear, then try to imagine that the padishah smiles at his viziers, the king of the boyars, the feudal vassals, the master to lackeys or peasants. Or the captain of the ship, or the commander of the ship smiling at their mothers. Or a non-commissioned officer smiling at his soldiers. Could this be? So, what a rotten thing it is when a smile is called something good, and even necessary. It is needed only by those who have started to fool the human being, are plotting deceit on him. And what then can be a benevolent mimic gesture? So that it was understandable, and did not put the human person in a subordinate position and was not deceitful? There are such gestures - this is a smirk and a grin. I'm not going to paint them on purpose for you, who are interested in a mirror in their hands and move your brain. At the same time, try to figure out how a smirk differs from a grin. Weak? About laughter, too, not now, it has a different anatomy, respectively, and a different purpose, and other attributes and properties. Now think for yourself to whom for what, how and how much you should smile. Should it be done at all. Personally, I never smile at anyone and never, under any circumstances (with the exception of my closest relatives), and I consider people who smile at me preventively (before I defeated them) to be deceivers. But I do a grin at the slightest reason. It can also be considered just a personal desire to do it, without any external reasons. Products manufactured in the Workshop of the Mechanical Mind in 7525.

Our emotional expressions seem to be innate, they are part of our evolutionary heritage. However, their etymology remains a mystery. Can we trace these social cues from the very beginning, from their evolutionary roots, to the behavior of our ancestors?

About a decade ago, at the Princeton University lab, we studied how the brain monitors the safety zone around the body and controls bending, squirming, squinting, and other actions that protect us from the impact of others.

Our experiments have focused on a specific set of regions in the brains of humans and monkeys. These areas of the brain immediately "processed" the space around the body, took sensory information and converted it into movement. We tracked the activity of individual neurons in those areas, trying to understand their function. As we watched our videos, I noticed a disturbing similarity everywhere: the defensive actions of the monkeys were terribly similar to standard human social cues. Why is it that when you blow on a monkey's face, its expression looks so strangely like a human smile? Why, while laughing, do we seem to use some elements of a protective stance?

As it turned out, we were not the first to look for the relationship between defensive movements and social behavior. Heini Hediger, Zurich Zookeeper in the 60s, shared his insight with us. He was trying to figure out how to divide the space of the zoo among the animals in such a way as to take into account their natural needs, and therefore he sometimes asked the zoo's chief biologist for advice. And often he was surprised when he learned how animals interact with the surrounding space.

While on an expedition to Africa, where he was catching new specimens for the zoo, Hediger noticed a constantly recurring pattern of behavior among animals that were preyed upon by predators. A zebra, for example, doesn't just run away from a lion. Instead, she seems to be building an invisible perimeter around herself. As long as the lion is outside this perimeter, the zebra is safe. When the lion crosses the border, the zebra changes location and re-establishes a safe zone. If a lion enters a smaller area, the zebra runs away. Zebras themselves have similar “protection zones” between themselves, and although they are much smaller, they are treated with due respect. In a crowd, zebras never come close. They step and move in such a way as to maintain a minimum organized space between them.

In the 60s American psychologist Edward Hall adapted the same idea to human behavior. Hall found that each person has a protective zone 60–90 cm wide, widening towards the head and narrowing towards the feet. The zone does not have a fixed size: if you are nervous, it grows, if you are relaxed, it shrinks. It also depends on your cultural upbringing. Personal space is less in Japan and more in Australia. Put a Japanese and an Australian in the same room - a strange dance will follow: the Japanese will step forward, the Australian will step back, and so they will follow one after the other. Maybe even without paying attention to what is happening.

Hediger and Hall led us to an important discovery. The mechanism we use to protect also forms the basis of our social engagement. In the end, he organizes a kind of network within the social space.

Smiling, one of the main tools of social interaction, is a very specific thing. Upper lip lifted to show teeth. Cheeks spread out to the sides. The skin around the eyes is wrinkled. Duchenne de Boulogne, a 19th-century neurologist, observed that a cold, fake smile is often confined to the mouth, while a genuine, friendly smile always involves the eyes. A sincere smile is now named Duchenovskaya in his honor.

A smile can also indicate submission. Employees who are subject to someone smile much more when they are among influential people. (“It used to be, / They greeted with smiles, bows, / They almost kneeled, / As in a temple!” Patroclus remarks about Achilles in Troilus and Cressida).

It only adds to the mystery. Why showing teeth is a sign of friendliness? Why do it as a sign of humility? Aren't teeth needed to testify to aggression?

Most ethologists agree that the smile is evolutionarily ancient and that variants of it are found in many primates. If you are watching a group of monkeys, you will notice that they sometimes give each other what looks like a grimace. They communicate without aggression; ethologists call this "silent display of teeth". Some theorists argue that this gesture originated from more or less the opposite - preparation for an attack.

But I think that by focusing only on the teeth, they miss a lot. In fact, this "demonstration of teeth" includes the entire body. Imagine two monkeys, A and B. Monkey B traverses monkey A's personal space. Result? The two neurons responsible for monitoring personal space begin to crackle in a classic defensive response. Monkey A squints, protecting his eyes. Her upper lip tightens. She bares her teeth, but that's just a side effect: the point of a lip tuck is not so much to prepare for an attack, but to tighten the skin on the face, slightly covering the eyes with skin folds. The ears "pull back" to protect themselves from damage. The head retracts and the shoulders rise to cover the vulnerable throat and neck. The head turns away from the approaching object. The torso leans forward to protect the abdomen. Depending on the location of the threat, the arms may be crossed in front of the torso or in front of the face. Monkeys most often adopt a conventional defensive stance that protects fragile and vulnerable parts of the body.

Monkey B can learn a lot by watching monkey A's reaction. If monkey A defends himself, as if in full response to monkey B's actions, then this is a good sign that monkey A is scared. She is uncomfortable. Her personal space is invaded. She perceives monkey B as an enemy, as someone socially superior to her. On the other hand, monkey A may respond "indistinctly" by narrowing his eyes slightly and turning his head back. This means that monkey A is not particularly frightened - he does not perceive monkey B as socially superior or as an enemy.

This information is very helpful for members. social group. Monkey B can learn where to be in order to show respect to monkey A. In this way, a social signal develops; natural selection will favor monkeys that can read the submission responses in their group and adjust their behavior accordingly. By the way, this is perhaps the most important part of this story: the most evolutionary pressure is on those who receive the signal, not on those who send it. This story is about how we started responding to smiling.

Nature is often an arms race. If monkey B can collect useful information watching monkey A, it is useful for monkey A to manipulate this information in order to influence monkey B. That is, evolution prefers monkeys that can, under the right circumstances, kind of play a defensive reaction. It is useful to convince others that you are not threatening them.

Let's look at the origin of the smile: it's a brief imitation of a defensive stance. In humans, there is only a stripped-down version of it, in which the facial muscles are involved: the upper lip is pulled up, the cheeks diverge to the sides and up, the eyes squint. Today we use it to communicate from a position of friendly aggression rather than from a position of complete submission and assistance.

And yet we can still observe the "monkey" gestures in ourselves. Sometimes we smile to show total submission, and this servile smile can come along with an echo of the defensive stance throughout the body: head down, shoulders up, torso up, hands in front of the chest. Like monkeys, we respond to these signals automatically. We can't help but feel warm towards those who radiate a Duchenne smile. We cannot help but feel contempt for a person who outwardly shows obedience, just as we cannot help but be suspicious of those who imitate warmth with a soulless smile with cold eyes.

It's unbelievable that so much could come from such a simple root. An ancient defense mechanism, a mechanism that analyzes the space around the body and organizes defensive movements, suddenly finds itself in the hypersocial world of primates, surrounded by smiles, laughter, crying and fawning. Each of these behaviors is then subdivided into several others, growing into a whole codebook of cues for use in different social settings. Not all human expressions can be explained through this, but very many. Duchenne smile, cold smile, laughter at a joke, laughter of appreciation for a clever wit, cruel laughter, a crouch meant to show reverence for someone or a straight back to show confidence, crossed arms to show suspicion, open arms ("Welcome!" ), the sad grimace with which we show sympathy for someone's sad story - this whole set of expressions could come from one sensory-motor defense mechanism that has nothing to do with communication.

» What does a smile say

What does smile mean? Different kinds smiles

The smile is a universal code built into the core of the human heredity program. A smile is based on a complex biochemical process, which ends with the contraction of numerous facial muscles. How many muscles must contract for a normal smile? At least a dozen, while a single Botox paralyzed one is enough to give you a frown.

Experts believe that the smile existed among our closest ancestors - hominids, that is, in an evolutionary sense, it appeared quite a long time ago. The conclusion suggests itself: if there were no smile, our civilization would certainly not be as developed as we know it today. Of course, on the fundamental role of speech in the development human society no one encroaches, but the contribution of a smile, I willingly believe in it, was decisive in the emergence of the most important feeling, the most powerful antidote to anger - compassion.

A smile is a signal of peacefulness and goodwill. Remember how newborns smile; this smile - in fact, the first attempt at interaction - becomes a pass to a civilized society. Few of us know that a smile is also the last interaction: very often the dying, especially those who have suffered for a long time, leave with relief. Noticing such a smile, believers say that the dying person enters paradise.

A weapon of seduction in the broadest sense of the word, the smile is second only to the look, which remains the champion in all mixed categories. Smiling creates a sense of complicity or even collusion (depending on the circumstances) even between people who have met for only a moment and will probably never see each other again. This empathic exchange allows you to share a moment of sincerity. In the blink of an eye, they moved from the level of introspective awareness, that is, they ceased to be captives of their own ego, to the extra-intense level, freed from the ego.

Even a fleeting smile extinguishes the dominant ego in favor of a short energy exchange between people. We can say that we enter into resonance with another person. The momentary sincerity we feel is the opposite of the natural aggressiveness of man. Smiling can be seen as a biological hypnosis designed to paralyze the aggressive impulses that many feel around a stranger who enters personal territory uninvited.

The speed of a smile equals the speed of social light bringing us closer to each other. This is a simple habitual movement - sometimes the only way able to close the distance between us. This is an indicator of sincerity and a normal climate in society. It can even be said that a smile contributes to the establishment of more equal relations between people from different ethnic groups actually uniting entire peoples. A smile brings us closer even when differences move us apart. A society that has forgotten about a smile is going through a deep crisis.

There are various ways and types of smiles, but most often we use only one, maybe two. So a smile is one of the most effective ways please the interlocutor. To please in the broad sense of the word, and not just to attract a possible sexual partner.

Open or closed smile

The most obvious classification of smiles is by the lips; lips may be pursed or open. This is a variable reflex gesture.

In general, the type of smile depends on the temperament of the individual, the general atmosphere and the specific circumstances of communication. Some people never open their lips, while others do it all the time.

pursed lips

Subjects who almost never part their lips when smiling are part of a large family of self-controlled subjects. They express their emotions very little and very sparingly, holding back or suppressing them to such an extent that emotions sometimes simply disappear. Such smiles are more like contemptuous grimaces than signs of sympathy.

These are unreliable individuals, because they are devoid of emotional intelligence. Never trust them a priori, and a posteriori too. Many YIRs smile with tight lips and generously give out promises of a great future, thanks to which they rise through the ranks or social ladder.

These projectors always find a sufficient number of grateful listeners who voluntarily allow themselves to be fooled.

open smile

Emotional people open their mouths to relax their cheekbones. Mostly they are open, sensitive and endearing personalities. You can trust them a priori, even if there is a risk of reconsidering your view a posteriori. Of course, there are fake smiles that show teeth. You just need to learn to distinguish a sincere and friendly smile from a smile on duty, completely fake and commercial.

In fact, the appearance of "crow's feet" in the corners of the eyes is the main criterion in determining the sincerity of a smile. In practice, everything is more difficult and easier at the same time. The fact is that the radiance of the eye and the size of the pupils are also important indicators. A natural smile increases the size of the pupils and illuminates the eyes with a sense of joy.

Mechanical smile

Without relaxing the lower part of the face at all, the mechanical smile convulsively tightens the lips, emphasizing the wrinkles and folds of bitterness at the corners of the mouth. The more often they resort to it, the more it becomes like a grimace. Sooner or later, a mechanical smile turns into a frozen mask, devoid of any charm.

A smile is the soul of your face, therefore a mechanical smile provokes an unconscious reaction of rejection in the one to whom it is addressed. Take a closer look at how the seller smiles. He never does it for no reason, his smile is an offensive weapon that is practically not suitable for defense. A characteristic smile that can easily turn into a real grin.

false smile

Whenever you instinctively smile, you relax your face. Whenever you smile mechanically or because circumstances require it, you lose your attractiveness and deepen wrinkles. There are different types of smiles, but only one of them is seductive - a real smile. The sincerity of a smile is often lost when childhood ends, and sometimes much earlier. Trust me, most of the smiles you see around you are false, false smiles designed to alleviate the other's fear, dry smiles that disappear as quickly as they appear.

To distinguish a real smile from a fake one, it is enough to observe the eyes of the interlocutor. One of the criteria for the sincerity of a smile is the degree of their radiance. If the right eye shines, and the left eye is inexpressive, then this is a contemptuous smile. If the left eye lights up, and the right eye remains expressionless, then this is a spontaneous smile based on the inconstancy of feelings. If both eyes are of the same temperature, then this is a real smile, in harmony with the psychological state.

Smile with eyes

Smile in dynamics

Perfect smile

A smile that shows off the upper teeth is a smile without a hint of nobility. A person smiling in this way goes ahead; this is an egoist, confident in his rights and completely devoid of moral principles. All those who flash on the TV screen smile that way. A sort of trademark, confirming the authenticity of the public image.

predatory smile

A smile that reveals only the lower teeth is the smile of a predator, greedily biting its teeth into the endless pleasures of life. He is as generous as he is short-tempered. A predatory smile sparkles a little less than that of an excellent student, and belongs to a person who lives not for his image, but for his knowledge or skills.

Smile on the lightning

The observed subject does not show teeth, as if the lips were zipped or padlocked.

Such a smile betrays a slightly insecure, perhaps slightly depressed person. He does not need to boast of his knowledge at all, even if he knows about the subject of conversation more than all those present. This is the smile of a restrained and modest person.

All-encompassing smile

This is when your interlocutor smiles "in all thirty-two teeth."

Such a smile at all thirty-two usually belongs to the star of the quarter or the prima donna of the office. The all-encompassing smile lives to appear, and most of all is afraid not to linger in your memory.

Half smile: the same recurring gesture

A half smile is more often a sign of arrogance than contempt. It is characteristic of manipulators, who are also seducers.

Try smiling with the left corner of your mouth. And now the right one. Which side is more natural for you?

If you are more comfortable smiling with your left corner, you are more of a mocker than a cynic. A half smile on this side also indicates that socially you will be more receptive to spontaneously arising feelings of liking or disliking. And this is generally logical, since the left half of the face depends on the right hemisphere of the brain, the emotional one. Irony is kinder than cynicism. However, the mocker does not boast good resistance to frustration; this is his Achilles heel.

If you are more comfortable smiling with your right corner, you are more of a cynic than a mocker. Observing flaws, the cynic draws his feelings from deep bitterness. He knows how to retreat to a sufficient distance, while a mocker is able to miss something under his very nose. The cynic is much tougher. He builds barricades against enthusiasm, not allowing pleasures or pleasures, which in the future will be regretted, to be drawn into him. The cynic has excellent resistance against frustration. This is both his strength and his weakness.

Those who do not give in to frustration do not forget that pleasure can weaken the protective barrier and this weakening can be fatal. And the cynic hates to feel weak - it does not fit in with the image that he forged for himself.

Forced smile

The motionless, if not frozen, smile of your interlocutor is more like a grimace than a friendly smile.

The forced smile belongs to the family of stereotypical smiles. It conveys the degree of skepticism of those who use it, and especially those who abuse it.

naive smile

Your interlocutor, sitting opposite, sends a smile, at least exciting.

This smile has preserved the imprint of the child's soul. Take a closer look at the delighted smile of the baby. It is no coincidence that children learn to smile before they speak. Such a smile with the aroma of childhood is quite capable of neutralizing stress and reducing the intensity of passions. An excellent remedy for a variety of anxiety.

distracted smile

The interlocutor addresses you with a slightly distant smile.

This type of smile indicates a certain distance; you are clearly considered lower in rank, which is condescendingly reported.

triumphant smile

Clearly satisfied with the conversation with management, your colleague smiles with undisguised pride.

In addition to expressing satisfaction, which is written on the face in huge letters, a triumphant smile is often accompanied by a turn of the shoulders. Even if the feeling of satisfaction is fully justified, it is better not to abuse such a smile, because it irritates those who find it difficult to succeed or even just have no luck lately. Sometimes a sense of quite just pride in oneself is confused with arrogance.

cold smile

Your interlocutor smiles coldly, pursing his lips.

Such a gesture indicates that your interlocutor is afraid of wasting time in your company in vain.

bitter smile

The smile of your interlocutor is more like an upside down soup plate.

The transformation of our smiles reveals how much our thoughts own and control our consciousness in the truest sense of the word. We are talking about a sad and at the same time damn romantic smile with a certain admixture of doom and resignation to fate.

fleeting smile

Your interlocutor's smile disappears as quickly as it appears.

The effect of such a smile on an unsophisticated person can be amazing. It causes instant stress that can unsettle anyone. A smile that barely appeared and instantly disappeared indicates that you missed.

You must be extremely attentive to smiles of this kind. It is for this reason that it is better not to take your eyes off the interlocutor to whom you are going to show your cards. Each of his facial movements will be recorded in your memory and pop up when you analyze the results of the meeting. Unless, of course, you spare a little time and effort.

Stereotypical fashion model smile

The interlocutor smiles at you, as if posing for a photographer.

Not all smiles are an expression of relaxation or relief. Traditions oblige to meet a stranger with a smile, which turned the smile of a hospitable host into a stereotypical grimace. Representatives of some professions have become real masters in depicting a stereotypical smile: actors, fashion models, politicians ..

To distinguish a real smile from a stereotypical grimace, you must observe the eyes of your interlocutor. The radiance must match the smile; eyes smile at the same time as the mouth, otherwise such a smile is worthless.

welcome smile

The smile that the owner sends you under the guise of welcoming is more like an overly cheerful smile from a commercial.

Another look at the welcoming smile, aptly referred to as the toothpaste smile, confirms that a welcoming or even just polite smile, both close and distant, instinctively draws you towards another person, even if you are not formally bonded. It does not violate the boundaries of personal space, but simply refers to what you have in common. “Smiling touches something important in us: our innate sensitivity to kindness,” emphasizes the 14th Dalai Lama in Ethics for the New Millennium.

understanding smile

“I love seeing knowing looks and smiles when I photograph strangers on the street,” says Steven, 25, a Taiwanese travel photographer. The smiles he catches are often the best memories of those travels.

This peculiar smile expresses complicity. It betrays a subtle understanding, without which real complicity is not possible. A knowing smile disarms, inspires confidence, conquers or excites, it allows you to approach or push off without unnecessary resentment.

Bold smile

Your exit. Quite unexpectedly, one has to come out in defense of the project. In the absence of a clear plan, you decide to start with a smile.

The effort we put in to force ourselves to smile provides an opportunity to maintain confidence and highlight successes rather than failures. Smiling helps us deal with stress better, face change with more calmness. Smile precedes laughter.

Protective smile

When you walk into a room where you don't know anyone, you instinctively smile as if defensively.

A smile can protect us from others or bring us closer to them, blame or forgive. A smile is a kind of concession, designed to nip the impulses of our own and others' aggression, if I may say so, in the bud. Probably the only sign of calm known to all cultures without exception.

Embarrassed smile

An intern in your department smiles shyly, having just found out he got the wrong address when sending a rush order.

Far from always expressing pleasure, a smile can also indicate a desire to smooth out awkwardness: an embarrassed smile can appear on the face if we have made a mistake and we are overwhelmed with shame.

provocative smile

In this case, the head is slightly lowered, and the look ... It can most accurately be called flirtatious. Women have a sensual smile. But she is certainly not as lustful as some men. A visiting smile is not a real smile, it lacks expressive wrinkles around the eyes, but a flirtatious smile addressed to you personally can very well betray real interest.

How to learn to smile

Your smile is not only a social grimace, but also a powerful weapon necessary to achieve certain life goals.

If you want to attract or seduce someone, you will have to learn to smile again by working with your cheek muscles through special exercises. Believe me, this is not too high a price for a real smile. The fear of losing is noted just at the level of the movable jaw. The deeper the doubt takes root, the more the smile hardens.

So, a smile conquers failure and reinforces success. A real smile illuminates the face, is read on the face, is seen on the cheeks and is even visible under the waves of the eyebrows. A beautiful face is not a frozen mask, but the ability to express feelings and impressions. A smile is like a cherry on a cake: if it turned out to be tasteless, then the cake is no better.

There are enough obvious examples and analogies. You are able to notice when it is necessary to start regular classes in a fitness club in order to restore muscles that have practically atrophied in the stone jungle; that you need to train the abdominal muscles in order to tighten the belly that rolls over the trouser belt ... With a smile, the same thing. There are special isometric gymnastics exercises for programming a smile.

We are talking about psychotonic gymnastics, which is a set of exercises to reduce the muscles around the eyes and mouth, muscles of the cheeks and nose. In general, this technique resembles a trance facial muscles. Most people master gymnastics without much difficulty, since it does not require the achievement of special states of consciousness, unlike, for example, hypnosis.

Adapted from: Messinger J. C. Ces gestes qui vous trahissent - Paris: France, 2013

The beauty queen in England this year is 24-year-old Cambridge student Karina Tyrall.
There are a few more photos under the cut. She will represent England in the Miss Universe pageant.

In my opinion, the girl, of course, is pretty, but she does not reach the beauty queen. At the same time, there are a lot of beautiful women in England, English women are not entirely scary, as many believe. But in the post I want to talk not about the beauty or harmony of features, but about the specifics of facial expressions and the manner of smiling.

What I really don't like is the on-duty grin. Especially in the last two frames. This is not a smile, this is a demonstration of teeth to the dentist. A lot has already been written about the difference between smiles in the West and in Russia. In the West, a smile is just a sign of politeness, it does not mean at all that a person is currently happy and glad about something. This is all clear. This is a feature of culture, and in principle, sometimes a hypocritical smile is better than a gloomy but sincere face. But why the smile turns into a grin - that's what I don't understand.

How many years I have lived in England, it still never ceases to amaze me how stony and grinning faces the British have with on-duty-forced-polite smiles. Below in the photo is an ordinary married couple, not actors, not models, a photo of a married couple from a newspaper. And the woman is pretty and the child, but they both have, again, a grin that disfigures the most beautiful facial features in my opinion. What is most interesting, children, despite all their spontaneity, literally from the cradle learn to grin in this way. The mouth is puckered, and the eyes are glassy. For me it's amazing.

After all, I also smile a lot on duty in England, and I also take pictures with a smile, but even when I’m in a bad mood and I have to smile for a shot or for politeness, I never get such a grin and glassy eyes, and even they have children get. To make a grin, I need to tighten up, I need to deliberately disconnect the upper part of the face from the lower one, it doesn’t work out that way for me at all. Automatically, when I smile, even the most "on duty", the reaction of all the muscles of the face starts, the whole face seems to "lift", all the muscles of the face are involved ... but they don't.

And I still don’t understand why you need to show your teeth when you smile.

When the British are in their own circle, in the circle of friends, they are very lively and quite sincere, therefore such a difference between a smile for their own and a smile for politeness strikes me.

The Guardian once posted a selection of photographs of Tsarist Russia at the turn of the century, the people in the photo are like people, with human faces, and not dentist patients with a grin for examination. So, most of the comments on those photos from modern Western readers boiled down to questions, jokes and sarcasm about gloomy faces, they say why they don’t smile, it’s hard to see life.

In my post about you can see an example of two more "beauties" - glass eyes. And in general, read this post, if not yet, I will say with all indiscretion that it is very interesting.

Smile…. Your smile is worth more than their filthy food...

K-f "Country of the Deaf"

The older we get, the less we smile. With age, people become more serious, and, consequently, there are fewer reasons to smile. From childhood, we were told that we should smile more often, and this is not surprising, because a smile, for the most part, causes positive reaction. This attitude towards smiling is not surprising; a smile is a sign of benevolence and submission, and also, to some extent, is a request to be considered on a personal level. In turn, the absence of a smile, on the contrary, betrays a gloomy, aggressive person and is most often found in people prone to dominance (for example, Vladimir Putin).

Have you ever thought that the person who smiles at you is insincere? Our subconscious is quite capable of determining the “purity” of a smile, and yet most people cannot determine this on a conscious level. Let's see what the difference is! Like any emotion, a smile can be sincere and, as we call it, forced. The difference between these two smiles is determined by the movement of the muscles of the mouth and eyes. If we can control the muscles of the mouth, then the muscles of the eyes cannot be consciously controlled. With a sincere smile, the muscles of the mouth stretch, teeth are exposed, the corners of the lips rise and wrinkles form near the eyes, on the outside, while the eyes of the interlocutor narrow. A sincere smile is always automatic and arises unconsciously. An insincere smile is asymmetrical, i.e. one side is more pronounced than the other. This is due to varying degrees of influence of the cerebral hemispheres. With an insincere smile, the muscles of the eyes remain in their original position, and it seems that the person smiles only with his lips. We can often see a similar phenomenon in photographs, when the photographer asks everyone to smile or say “cheese”. In this case, it seems that the people in the picture are not really happy, and the impression of the photo is blurred. Thus, to find out if a person is sincere with you, just look at the corners of his eyes. However, if the fake smile is strong enough, then when the cheeks are enlarged, it may seem that the eyes are narrowed, and it seems that the smile is genuine. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the fold covering the eye; with a sincere smile, she goes down a little, and after her the tips of the eyebrows.

It is not difficult to guess that the man on the left is smiling sincerely,but the woman on the right is not.

There is also smile as a sign of aggression in other words, we call such a smile a grin. We owe this smile to the great apes from which we are descended, according to Darwin. Monkeys show aggression by exposing their lower fangs. In this sense, man has not gone so far, because we do exactly the same. We lower or protrude forward the lower lip, exposing the lower row of teeth.

Have you ever been in situations in which there was a direct threat to your life or were simply lucky in various life situations? I think everyone had it, and, moreover, it can be said with confidence that your emotions about this were written on your face in the form of a smile. This smile differs from all others in that the muscles of the mouth stretch horizontally, the corners of the lips fall down and the eyes remain motionless.

Now let's break the stereotype that people who lie to us often resort to smiling. Paul Ekman's research will help us dispel this myth. As a result of these studies, it was revealed that people who are suspected of something and at the same time knowingly tell a lie, just the same, smile much less often or not at all. To a greater extent this applies to men. It is especially paradoxical that in this case people refer to this very stereotype. The psychology of people who are suspected of something and at the same time smiling at the time of the answer is closely related to the psychology of the smile itself. This is due to the fact that people accused of something, through a smile, show humility and submission to their accuser. If the liar resorts to a smile in order to win over the accuser, then the smile time helps to expose him. A false smile will be drawn on the face much earlier than a sincere one and will last much longer. This is due to the fact that a person continues to smile after he lied, remaining satisfied with his lie. At the same time, he looks like an actor who has entered the character and is not going to part with it for some time. Thus, it becomes clear that a smile in this situation must be considered based on the current situation.

It is said that if a person smiles all the time, other people think that he has something on his mind. This statement is both true or false depending on the culture. If in one part of the world a constant smile is normal, in another part of the world it may well be a curiosity and will become the basis for unnecessary questions about your smile. From this we can once again draw a conclusion about the binding of certain body movements to the location and cultural traditions.

Paul Ekman highlighted 19 types of smiles . In everyday life, we often encounter five kinds of smiles. Let's look at them in more detail.

In this type of smile, the lips are compressed so that the teeth are not visible and form a straight line. Such a smile suggests that a person has a secret or his own opinion on the current situation, but he is not in the mood to share information with you. Mostly, thus, women who do not like the interlocutor smile. However, to their regret, most men do not understand this, and women, in turn, instantly read this gesture as a sign of refusal. It is also possible that a person smiles in this way only because he is embarrassed by his teeth.

This smile indicates a mixture of feelings. The left side of the face, under the influence of the right hemisphere of the brain, smiles. With all the characteristic signs of a smile (eyebrow, corner of the mouth and cheek raised). The right side, under the influence of the left hemisphere of the brain, looks frowning. Such a smile is widespread in the West and means exclusively sarcasm.

During this smile, the lower jaw drops and a playful impression is created. Thus, smiling people are trying to get a positive reaction from the audience and imitate smiling eyes. This also includes a smile with a half-open mouth, which indicates satisfaction.

This smile is practiced by experienced seductresses. It is accompanied by a slight tilt of the head and a glance from under the brows. At the same time, the smile looks more childish and mysterious and evokes paternal instinct in men.

5. George W. Bush's grin.

With such a smile, it seems that a person seems to be smiling all the time.

Summary:

• a smile is a sign of goodwill;
• an insincere smile is only a smile of the lips;
• it is necessary to pay attention not only to the lower, but also to the upper part of the face;
• a smile can be a sign of aggression and the result of nervous tension;
• if a person is lying, he smiles much less often;
• do not forget about binding to the area;
• In everyday life, we meet 5 main types of smiles.