Book 2, Question 50
Why Do Feelings Show on Our Face?
Your face is like a billboard for your feelings. Tiny face muscles move to show what you feel inside. And other people can read the message, often without a single word.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- In the 1970s, scientist Paul Ekman and a colleague made a system to measure face movements.
- Your face muscles can make 43 basic movements.
- Mixed together, those movements can make more than 10,000 different facial expressions.
- Ekman's system helped animators make Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story raise his eyebrows like a real person.
- Even so, most people are not very good at reading the faces of strangers.
- Young children show feelings on their faces before they can name them.
Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, KidsHealth (Nemours)
Questions kids ask
How many expressions can a face make?
More than 10,000, by mixing 43 basic face muscle movements.