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Re: Tears: 2 of 2 . Thank
J. Moore (j#d#.moore@canrem.com)
Tue, 24 Oct 95 11:55:00 -0500
Rl> I am happy to see a reference to what I had read some years ago
Rl> in the NY Times Science Section. Has anything more been published
Rl> regarding toxins in emotional tears, and is there any know variation
Rl> reported in different human ethnic groups?
Frey seems to be the only one doing the chemical analysis (he's a
research psychiatrist) and his bunch are doing the psych stuff too
(questionnaires and all that). I'm sure he has more recent stuff
than his book but I haven't seen it yet. I have no idea what he
has in mind about the idea of variation, except that he points out
there's a lot of variation between individuals. He also points
out that his data, at that point, showed no genetic component to
crying frequency, but also that no research had been done on the
amount of influence observation learning plays in crying
frequency. He is aware of the interesting possibilities in
looking at the subject cross-culturally, and mentions in his book
a Hungarian group planning to get some data there; also he
mentions a report:
"Dr. Juan Murube del Castillo, perhaps the most knowledgeable writer
on dacryology, has observed that the Rif tribe of northern Morocco
does not shed emotional tears." (Frey 1985:151, *Crying: The Mystery
of Tears*). It all sounds interesting, but of course the entire
field of quantifying any aspect of emotion, in humans or in other
animals, is in its infancy. Guess that means he's got an
interesting field to be in.
Rl> A prediction: This won't budge any AAT'ers out there.
Rl> Ralph Holloway.
I would assume that's a given, although James Borrett seems to
have accepted it as meaning something.
Jim Moore (j#d#.moore@canrem.com)
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