📘 Part 3: Smiling

This episode's vocabulary

Letdown (noun) – a disappointment. → I'm tempted to say younger people smile more because they've had fewer letdowns in life.

Bound to be (idiom) – to be very likely to do or be something. → With everything being new and shiny for children, there's bound to be more optimism and smiles.

Broad generalization (noun phrase) – a statement that applies to a group of people or things in general, without considering details. → Saying that all women show their emotions more freely is a pretty broad generalization.

First and foremost (idiom) – most importantly; more than anything else. → The first and foremost reason people smile is to show that they're happy.

As long as my arm (idiom) – very long. → The list of reasons why people smile is as long as my arm.

Convey (verb) – to express a thought, feeling, or idea so that it is understood by other people. → You cannot really convey how you're feeling in a picture without some kind of visual aid.

Disposition (noun) – the particular type of character that a person naturally has. → If the person with a genuine smile has a friendly disposition, it's a safe assumption they're a friendly person.

Sinister (adjective) – making you feel that something bad or evil might happen. → If it's a sinister smile, it might unnerve people quite a lot.

Unnerve (verb) – to make someone feel less confident and slightly frightened. → A fake smile that doesn't match the situation might unnerve people.

Perfunctory (adjective) – done quickly, without taking care or showing interest. → You might put on a perfunctory smile at an event you're not enjoying.

Prone to (adjective) – likely to suffer from an illness or show a particular negative characteristic. → Some people are just not prone to open expressions of emotion.

Ataxia (noun) – a medical condition causing the loss of full control of bodily movements. → Facial ataxia means you lose control of some facial muscles, so you can't smile.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Do people smile more when they are younger or older?

Rory: I don't know, really. I'm tempted to say younger people smile more because they've had fewer letdowns in life and everything is newer and shinier so there's bound to be more optimism and smiles. But maybe if you're older and more experienced, you can make the events that make you smile happen more often. So it's anybody's guess.

Maria: Do women smile more than men?

Rory: Surely that's more about personality rather than a gender thing. If I'm pushed though, maybe women, mostly because there's this idea that women show their emotions more freely. I think that's a pretty broad generalization, don't you?

Maria: Why do people smile then, in general?

Rory: God, I think the list of reasons is as long as my arm. I'm trying to organize it in my head. So, I suppose the first and foremost reason is that it's to show that they're happy and you show the other person that you're happy, and so that is part of building a relationship and a shared understanding and experience of the situation. Some people do it to calm a situation by showing there's no need for any tension because they're happy, so they're openly displaying their emotions to calm things. Other people do this when they are nervous, in an attempt to do the calming, as well. So there's all kinds of reasons. It could also just be an automatic reaction that people have to good things happening in their lives.

Maria: Right. And is smiling important in your culture?

Rory: I think it's probably more important than it is in others, relatively speaking, because you see people smiling more openly here compared to other cultures. So this open signaling of emotion is part of how we interact with each other, which is less so in other places.

Maria: Why do most people smile in photographs?

Rory: That's also a good question, actually. I've never really thought about it. Maybe it's because people want to show their emotions, and you cannot really convey how you're feeling in a picture without some kind of visual aid. So the smile is a visual aid to show that everybody is having a good time. That is just a guess though. I don't really know.

Maria: Do you think people who like to smile are more friendly?

Rory: I think that depends on the type of smile that it is, really, doesn't it? Because if it's genuine, a genuine authentic smile, and the person with it has a friendly disposition or demeanor, then it seems like a fairly safe assumption that they're a friendly person, but if it's a sinister smile or it doesn't match the situation or the emotions being expressed, then it might unnerve people quite a lot.

Maria: Are there any occasions when people need to pretend to smile?

Rory: Probably yeah. If you're at an event that you're not really having a good time at and you're just sort of put on a perfunctory smile to try and get through it without bringing other people down along with you, then you would pretend to smile. I don't know how believable it would be, but that is one reason. Yep.

Maria: And some people rarely smile or never smile. Why?

Rory: Well, it could be a personality thing. Some people are just not prone to open expressions of emotion, or it could be a cultural thing for basically the same reasons that I just gave there. Maybe open smiles are not something which is encouraged because of, well, a variety of reasons. Maybe it's associated with stupidity, for example. So those are two of the foremost ones. Another reason could be they have some kind of facial paralysis, perhaps. What's that thing? It's... what's it called? It's yes, it's facial ataxia. Ataxia just means that you lose control of some muscles so you can't smile.