Born to laugh; Learn to cry

According to a news story doing the rounds today, we were all born knowing how to laugh, but crying to express emotion is a learned response. Here’s a link to the story in the Mail Online.

It’s hard to see how there is any truth to this research when it’s obvious to anyone who has ever cared for a newborn that we are definitely born knowing how to cry. Maybe the distinction is in the reasons for crying. Little man had very distinctive cries as a newborn. It was easy to tell whether he was hungry, uncomfortable, gassy, or tired. Crying is the most basic communication tool we have. And perhaps it’s true that we learn to restrict crying to a way of expressing unhappiness – but it’s definitely something we are born knowing how to do!