HUMAN Facial Expressions
on our Animal Friends
on our Animal Friends
 Figure 1. One angry gal! |  Figure 2. One angry cat? |
We can’t help it. We assume that all faces, human or otherwise, express emotion the same way we do. That simple principle is deeply embedded in our perceptual system, and to call it anthropomorphism – the attribution of human traits to non-humans - bears a slight whiff of disapproval, as though we make a choice to see the world that way. We’re hard-wired to see anything face-like – the front of a car, the Man in the Moon, Mr. Potato Head – as alive and sentient, and we’re hard-wired to expect every face to smile and frown like humans do, whether it’s a Corolla or a crocodile. It’s likely that evolution favored humans who were prone to see faces everywhere and react accordingly. Better to be wrong and alive, then to be right and be eaten.
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