w just how you feel
Do you feel sad? Happy? Angry? You may think that the way you show these emotions is unique. Well, think again. Even the expression of the most personal feelings can be classified, according to Mind Reading, a DVD exhibiting every possible human emotion. 71
In the mid1800s, Darwin divided the emotions into six types—anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise and enjoyment. More complex expressions of emotion were probably learned and therefore more specific to each culture. But now it is believed that many more facial expressions are shared worldwide. 72 The Mind Reading DVD is a systematic visual record of these expressions.
The project was designed by a Cambridge professor. His research team first had to define an “emotion”. 73 Using this definition, 412 emotion terms were identified and discussed, from “afraid” to “wanting”.
Then each expression is acted out by six different actors. “It was really clear when the actors had got it right,” says Cathy Collis, who directed the DVD. “Although they were given some direction, the actors were not told which facial muscles they should move. 74 ”
Someone who has tried to set such rules is the American, Professor Paul Ekman, who built database of how the face moves for every emotion. The face can make 43 distinct muscle movements. Ekman has also found that it may not be possible for people to reproduce them artificially. The most difficult expression to reproduce is the smile. It isn’t only about stretching the lips, but tightening the tiny muscles around the eye. 75 If we learnt to recognize whether someone was using their eye muscle when they smiled, we would be able to distinguish true enjoyment from false.