Long live the people's leader, great scientist, mentor of all our important undertakings - long live Comrade Stalin! [Academician Vavilov (С.И.Вавилов), President of the USSR Academy of Sciences: "Scientific Conference on Problems of the Physiology of Academician Pavlov" translated by Goshoron]
Note: The following bold text is excerpted from Darwin's book "Human and Animal Expressions" (translated by Zhou Bangli), and the guiding explanatory text guided by ultramarine numerals is the former Soviet scientist Сerstein. Г. Геллерштейн, 1896-1967) added to the Russian translation.
Darwin: As for conventional signs, which are gestures that are not innate in terms of movement, such as those used by deaf, dumb, and uncivilized people, then the principle of opposition, or opposition, can also be partially applied to this aspect. [22]
[22] When Darwin spoke of gestures for the deaf, he meant gestures and facial expressions; These deaf people, who have not yet learned to understand and use spoken language, communicate with each other using gestures and facial expressions. The training of this gesture language is based on the use of the sensory organs preserved by the deaf and dumb - sight, touch and other organs. Stalin, in his reply to Comrades Berkin (Д.Белкин) and Fulier (С.Фурер), explained on what basis the thinking of the deaf is based. Comrade Stalin wrote: "The ideas of the deaf and mute can only be born and survived only on the basis of images, perceptions and ideas about external world objects and their interrelationships formed in their daily lives as a result of sight, touch, taste and smell." Outside of these images, perceptions, ideas, the mind is empty and has no content, that is, it does not exist. (Stalin, Marxism and Problems of Linguistics, People's Publishing House, 1953 edition, p. 47) Vision enables the deaf to learn to read with their lips, so they can understand spoken language. The deaf and mute replace the hearing they lack with sight and touch; At first they were trained to pronounce words, and later they were trained to pronounce words. Therefore, the language of facial expressions and gestures written by Darwin should be seen as an extremely imperfect and limited means of communication for deaf people who have not yet learned to understand spoken language.
Darwin: Dogs sometimes approach a strange dog and may think that it is useful to use their movements to show that they are friendly and do not want to fight. [24] When two young dogs play with each other, make growling noises and biting each other's faces and limbs, it is clear that they both understand each other's gestures and actions. In fact, puppies and kittens also seem to have a certain degree of instinctive awareness that they must not use their sharp little teeth or small paws too presumptuously when playing, but sometimes this incident occurs, so it ends with a scream, otherwise they will often scratch each other's eyes.
[24] (p. 40) Not only did Darwin speak of instinctive consciousness and thus emphasize the possibility of conscious consciousness in admitting that the behavior of animals is determined by conscious motives ("It is useful for dogs to show their friendliness by their movements"). The philosophy of dialectical materialism solves this problem by acknowledging that animals may have the germ of consciousness. Comrade Stalin wrote in his classic work Anarchism or Socialism: "The first living thing has no consciousness, it has only the properties of feeling stimuli and the germ of sensations. Later, the animal's sensory faculties gradually developed, and slowly transformed into consciousness with the development of the animal's organismal structure and nervous system (Stalin's Complete Works, vol. 1, p. 288, People's Publishing House, 1953). Darwin did not detect this slow transition from sensation to consciousness, and in some places insisted that animals, like humans, had highly developed functions of consciousness. In his brief description, the idea of anthropomorphism can be found.
Darwin: There are many animals of male and female sexes who constantly call each other during estrus; There are quite a few examples of male animals using this calling method in an attempt to seduce and excite females. In fact, as I intend to show in my book Descent of Man Selection in Relation to Sex, this is probably the original use and development of sound.[35] Therefore, the use of the vocal organ is probably combined with the strongest pleasant anticipation that the animal can feel. Those animals who live a social social life, after leaving their group, often call each other, and when they are reunited, they are obviously very happy; For example, we can see this happening when a horse returns to another companion who is neighing to find it. Mothers constantly call out to their missing toddlers, such as a cow calling for its calf; And many young animals call out to their mothers. When the flock disperses, the ewe bleates constantly in search of her lamb; When mother and son meet, their mutual pleasure is obvious. If someone goes to play with the toddler of a huge and fierce four-legged beast, and these four-legged beasts hear the child's cry of grief, then this person will have a catastrophe. The anger caused all the muscles in the body, even the muscles that made the sound, to become very tense; When some animals are angry, they try to use their power and brutality to make the enemy feel terrified; For example, a lion makes a roar; The hound came with a roar. I can conclude that their purpose is to terrorize each other, for lions simultaneously erect their manes when they roar, and hound upends their back fur when they are angry, so they try to make themselves as big and scary as they can. The fighting animals of the females try to cheer and challenge each other with their own calls, which leads to a decisive struggle. Therefore, the use of sound is probably combined with the emotion of anger, and it is always caused by anger. Also, we have seen that intense pain, like great anger, causes a violent cry, and when screaming, we use all our strength to alleviate our pain; Therefore, the use of sound is probably combined with any kind of suffering situation.
The reason why various very different sounds occur under different emotions and feelings is very vague. It cannot be assumed that this law, which has any significant difference in sound, is universally applicable. For example, in dogs, their barking when angry is not much different from barking when they are happy, but they can be distinguished. Sometimes it is not possible to provide a detailed description of the causes and sources of the particular sounds produced in different mental states. We know that some animals, after being domesticated, acquire a habit of making sounds that they did not have before. For example, domestic dogs, even domesticated jackals, have learned a foxy bark that is not inherent to any of the genus of dogs; It is said that the only North American coyote (Canis latrans), a species in North America, is an exception that makes this bark. Among the domestic pigeons, several breeds have also learned to make a new and completely special cooing sound.
[35] (p. 57) Darwin cites the narrative in chapter 3 of The Origin of Man; In this chapter, an insight was developed that the vocal organs of animals are used with certain biological needs. However, Darwin did not provide a profound analysis of the human aspect of the problem. Only in the works of the classic writers of Marxism-Leninism, starting with Engels's work "The Role of Labor in the Process of Transformation from Ape to Man" to Stalin's work "Marxism and Linguistic Problems", provides a correct answer to this question; This lies in the determination of the developmental link between language and thinking in the process of social labor activity. In his book Anarchism or Socialism, Stalin made a very obvious statement about the structure of the organism and the process of development of its nervous system, and emphasized that human beings walking upright was a necessary prerequisite for the use of speech (Stalin's Complete Works, vol. I, Chinese translation, p. 288).
Darwin: The ability of members of the same race to communicate with each other through language played a crucial role in human development; The facial and body expressions are an important aid to language. [104] When we talk to anyone who covers their face about a major issue, we can immediately believe it. Nevertheless, as far as I can find, there is no basis to assume that any kind of muscle develops or even changes specifically for the sake of expression. There seem to be some exceptions to the organs used to make various expressive sounds and other vocalizations; But I have tried elsewhere to show that these organs were originally developed for the purpose of calling or seducing each other between the sexes. Nor can we find grounds for assuming that any kind of heritable action now as a means of expression, such as gestures and sign language used by several deaf and dumb people, was initially performed casually and consciously for this particular purpose, and on the contrary, that the various real or genetic expression movements clearly have some natural and non-dependent origin for a particular purpose. However, these actions, once acquired, can be used freely and consciously as means of communication. This is true even for babies; If we look closely at them, we can see that babies find that their screaming can alleviate pain at a very young age, so they immediately practice it at will. We can often see people who can deliberately raise their eyebrows to express surprise, or deliberately smile to show feigned satisfaction and acquiescence. There are also people who often want to make a certain gesture conspicuous or visible, so they spread their arms, spread their fingers widely, and raise them above their heads to show their surprise; Or raise his eyebrows to his ears to indicate that he can't or won't do something. If they perform these actions intentionally and repeatedly, the tendency to do so will be strengthened or increased, and its effects will be inherited.
[104] (p. 228) Darwin made many observations on the origin of speech, spoken and gestural language, and on the biological significance of vocal function (cf. On the Origin of Species, Chapter 3). This question has only been fully understood until now, after the publication of Stalin's genius work "Marxism and the Problems of Linguistics". Therefore, it can be particularly emphasized that Darwin, when he proposed the meaning of gesture language and pointed out that facial and body expressions and movements reinforced and better expressed the meaning of spoken language, by no means preferred to think that gesture is decisive, as if it can be felt when walking around the flower, it is a means of communication between people. For obvious reasons, in this detailed account of the external manifestations of expressive movements and emotional states, Darwin argues that gesture as a method of expression has a more important place than speech. Even in the text before and after this book, Darwin's insights on facial and body expression action helpers should also be understood; This view does not conflict with Stalin's explanation in his answer to Comrades Berkin and Fulier on this question. Darwin's indication of the following point is extremely important; This is that expression, like gestures, is a means of expression, does not have the original special purpose, and should not be treated the same as the posture of a deaf and mute person in this regard. See also Article 22 of the Russian translator's note.
Charles Darwin: I have tried to show in some detail that all the main expressions peculiar to human beings are the same all over the world. This fact is interesting because he is able to provide a new argument in favor of the claim that several peoples originated from a single ancestral race; This ancestral race had almost a complete human anatomy and possessed most of the human spirit before it was separated into distinct races. There is no doubt that these similar anatomy, adapted for the same purpose, are often acquired independently by various races as a result of variation and natural selection; However, this insight does not yet show that the different races are closely similar to each other in a number of unimportant details. Second, if we notice that the innumerable features of body structure are not related to the expressions common to all races, and add to them many conditions on which facial movements are directly or indirectly dependent (some extremely important and many of which are rarely meaningful), then I think it is extremely unlikely that this great similarity in body structure, or more accurately the same situation in structure, can be obtained in a way that is not related to each other. However, if it is thought that human races originated from several races that were originally different from each other, then this must have happened. It is very close to the truth that there are many very similar traits in various races, inherited from a single ancestral type that already has human characteristics. [108]
[108] (p. 231) Darwin was a staunch advocate of the idea of racial unity; In particular, he successfully used a lot of facts about expressions to confirm this principle. Darwin's information defeated the reactionary, pseudo-scientific fabrications of the proponents of the "race theory."
Charles Darwin: There is a problem, although some people may think that thinking about it is unhelpful, but it is also interesting; This is: from what early times in ancient times, our ancestors began to acquire a succession of different expressions and movements expressed by humans today. The following arguments can at least be used to recall the main principles discussed in this book. We can safely assume that our ancestors actually used laughter as a sign of pleasure or joy long before they were qualified to be called human, because there are many species of apes that make a repeated sound that is clearly similar to ours when happy, and their jaws or lips often vibrate up and down, while the corners of the mouth are pulled back and up, the cheeks are wrinkled, and even the eyes are bright.
We can also infer that in extremely distant times, human beings have shown more or less fear as they do now; It is when fearful, showing body trembling, hair standing on end, cold sweat, paleness, wide eyes, most muscles relaxed, and the whole body squatting down or standing still.
If the distress is strong, it should cause the sufferer to scream or moan at the beginning, while the body spasms and teeth grind against each other. However, before our ancestors' blood circulation organs, respiratory organs, and muscles around the eyes had acquired our present structure, they were not able to express the high-level facial movements that occurred at the same time as screaming and crying. Apparently tearing is due to a spasmodic contraction of the eyelid by means of reflexes, and the eyeball may be overcrowded when screaming. Therefore, crying probably occurred in a relatively recent era in the history of human development; This conclusion is also consistent with the fact that man's closest relative, the great ape, does not cry. However, we should be a little careful in solving this problem, because there are several apes that are not closely related to humans cry, so this habit may have developed very early in the paraphyletic group that produced humans. Before our early ancestors had the habit of trying to suppress their screams, they never tilted their eyebrows or pulled the corners of their mouths downward when distressed by sorrow or worry. Therefore, expressions of sorrow and worry are exclusive to human beings.
In ancient times, humans used intimidation or fury, red skin, and glowing eyes to indicate anger, but not frowns. You know, the habit of frowning is obviously acquired for the following reasons: the main reason is that every time the baby is in pain, anger or pain and is about to scream, the orbicularis oculi muscle is the first muscle that contracts around the eye; Part of the reason is that frowning can be used as a kind of shade during difficult periods of attentive gaze. It is likely that this shading action did not become habitual before humans took a fully upright position,[109] because apes do not frown in the glare of light. The very early ancestors of mankind, when they were angry, probably showed their teeth more freely than today's people; Even a person who is so angry that he goes completely mad, like a psychopath, is not as free as the toothy of these ancestors. We can also say with almost certainty that when they are angry or disappointed, they must have protruded their lips more strongly than our children, or even the children of the existing barbarian race.
The very early ancestors of mankind, when they were indignant or moderately angry, would never have straightened their heads, expanded their chests, raised their shoulders, and clenched their fists if they had not yet acquired the normal gait and upright posture of humans, nor would they have learned the art of fighting with fists or clubs. Before the advent of this era, the kind of shrugging posture that is contrary to the above posture and is a sign of weakness or patience will never develop. For the same reason, at that time, the gesture of raising arms, spreading hands and parting fingers would never be used to express surprise. Judging by the ape's movements, it will never express surprise by opening its mouth wide; However, at that time, the eyes should be open, and the eyebrows should be arched upwards. In distant antiquity, disgust should have been expressed by the movements around the mouth, as if vomiting; That is, if the insight I have given about the origin of this expression is correct, then this action will occur; My insight is that our ancestors had the ability to deliberately and quickly spit out foods they hated out of their stomachs, and used them. But the finest expression of contempt or contempt is to droop one's eyelids or turn one's eyes and face to one side, as if it were not worth looking at the person being despised; This method was probably not available to them much before a very late era.
Among all the expressions, it is clear that blush is the most special characteristic of human beings; All races, or almost all races, share this expression, regardless of whether their skin color changes at the time. Flushing occurs due to the looseness of arterioles on the surface of the skin, which obviously occurred initially because of our keen attention to the appearance of our body (especially for the face); And the tendency of habits, genetics, and neural forces to flow easily along familiar pathways also promotes its relaxation; Later, our own attention to moral behavior also causes this arteriole to relax and blush due to the power of the union. It may not be doubted, many animals can evaluate beautiful colors, and even morphology; For example, in males and females, it is precisely because of this situation that individuals of one sex suffer in order to express their beauty to individuals of the other sex. However, it is obviously impossible to assume that any animal will carefully consider and be sensitive to its appearance before its mental abilities have developed to an equal or near-equal degree to that of humans. Therefore, we can conclude that blush occurred very late in the long history of human development.
[109] (p. 232) It should be admitted that Darwin's idea that frowning and other expressions are related to upright walking of the body is extremely detailed and original. Unfortunately, Darwin only published this idea in passing, but did not discuss it in detail. The founders of dialectical materialism showed how significant this factor is in the development of man and his consciousness. In Stalin's writings, we can read the most valuable insights on this question (see Stalin's Complete Works, vol. 1, Anarchism or Socialism, pp. 313-314, and pages 288-289 of the Chinese translation). Based on these insights, this science of the origin and evolution of expression movements should be fleshed out with new and effective concepts.
Grelstein: The totality of human emotions, starting with the simplest primitive emotions and continuing through to those rich and complex emotions that are constantly intertwined with human consciousness and that make man concentrate on all his thoughts and intentions (such as the feelings of Soviet love for his homeland and his people), can only be understood if we study human beings from the standpoint of Marxist-Leninist science. Human language, consciousness and emotional life are intertwined and inextricably linked, so the most profound ideas published in Stalin's genius work Marxism and the Problems of Linguistics are of great importance for the study of emotional problems. (Grelstein: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Darwin's Claims on Expressions)