I just asked a question in the Psychology section about why baby cries are so nerve wracking, and some of the responses was: its natures way of making sure babies get attention.
But why on earth would humans evolve as to be annoyed by the sound of a baby cry?
2007-07-02 00:52:17 · 10 answers · asked by Antares 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Note: I do believe we can evolve to develop impulses on our own but to find a babys cry nerve wracking? Come on now. lol
2007-07-02 00:54:04 · update #1
No but the initial reaction is not of worry (unless this is your child) its of annoyance .. pretty weird huh
2007-07-02 00:58:10 · update #2
it's called instinct of self-preservation, if we could stand hearing a baby cry - a baby would most likely die
so, when now someone (a mother for example) hears her baby crying she tries to soothe it, to calm it down
2007-07-02 00:56:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I can give two examples. According to Piaget impulses or behaviours are hardwired. Experiments with animals and observation of neglected children have shown that some survival behaviour is not learned but is somehow placed in us, either through evolution or through God, depending on what your believe.
I also have an undergrad degree in Philosophy and science of Lingquistics was started by Philosophers who wished to examine the workings of language.
There are numerous concepts that are hard wired into human language or we would not be able to translate or to understand other languages at all. Studies of grammatical construction of languages all around in the world found that they had far more similarities than differences. How could this be, peoples and cultures that have been seperated for centuries in some cases are able to learn each other languages? It is only possiblle if there is something about language that is innate, it is not learned but comes through either evolution or God (I prefer God, but I digress).
There are about a dozen or so of cases of children who could not hear during their early childhood -- they were completely deaf until they had an operation that gave them hearing when they were nine and ten and they lived in poorer areas of the world where their parents could not send them to school to learn how to use sign language.
Too late to learn language according to some. The ability to soak in language, according to previous language theory, was only possible when a child is very young and as they grow older they lose this ability. The theory was that very young children are defenseless, so they spend all their waking hours with Mom, Dad or other adult caretakers. So during this period ther are immersed in language and so language is a purely learned skill, there are no innate abilities when it comes to language.
But after operations that gave previously totally deaf children hearing for the first time, children 10, 11 and older, were able to learn spoken language with the same rapidity and with the same innate ability as younger children. How could a child bordering on puberty learn language so quickly so quickly when before the operation they had no idea that it existed?
As for a babies cry being annoying, it is to ensure that if Mom or Dad isn't around, some adult is going to come to make sure nothing is wrong. Babies are defenceless and if they are in trouble, they need attention now, not in five or six minutes when Mom and Dad return. What do people do when they hear a baby cry? They look to see if Mom or Dad is around to take care of the child. It's a defense mechanism that has been hardwired into us. It's importance may not be so readily apparent now, but it doesn't take much to harm or even kill a baby, so even just a few generations ago, it was still a necessity. Mom may be out gathering firewood or food and Dad may have stepped away just for a second to get some water. Each not knowing the other was away.
2007-07-02 08:28:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well a baby crying constantly is going to cause some headaches in say, someones hectic lifestyle. it is an added nuisance. just like a puppy crying, it is crying for something, food or whatever. it is all down to lifestyle and persona, if your easily annoyed a baby crying is not going to go down well and vice versa.
As for great creator, we evolve, natural selection has caused the baby to cry and us to respond.
2007-07-02 07:58:58 · answer #3 · answered by Ghost Of Vermeer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We develop them by ourselves. Baby's cries are at the most penetrating pitch for humans because we're hard wired to be protective of our young and it has become the most alarming pitch because it's the sound of a baby's cry.
2007-07-02 07:56:55 · answer #4 · answered by Pat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it wracked my nerves! I suppose it's part of the survival of the species. There's the urge to reproduce, and then there's the urge to care for the offspring so they can reproduce in turn. The "need" to respond to the babies' distress signals is part of it.
2007-07-02 07:56:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well baby cries are sometimes like finger nails on a chalk board, I have two grandchildren. One was really not bad to listen to cry, he was the first. Now my grand daughter, was worse then finger nails on a chalk board, and cried for 9 months straight! All due to milk alergies of all sorts! if you can imagine. She is fine now.
Magpie
2007-07-02 08:00:30 · answer #6 · answered by MissMagpie 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Babies DO NOT cry just to annoy people.
2007-07-02 07:56:53 · answer #7 · answered by billystinkfinger 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Evolution...LOL why do all two year olds yelll Mine!! Mine!! Mine!! Alll MINE!! ..anf do exaclty what their parents tell then not to do...lol
Shouldn't they have evolved to be less selfish and rebelious by now?
2007-07-02 07:55:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Both.
2007-07-02 08:18:49 · answer #9 · answered by Machaira 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i think we should be patient.
2007-07-02 07:56:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋