@ HappyGirl:
IIRC, one currently prevalent theory among neuro-psychologists is that the brains of newborn human babies contain so-called 'mirror neurons'. These should cause them to automatically imitate facial expressions presented to them by their mothers, among other thigns. So in that sense, yes, human baby brains are 'hard-wired' to be especially receptive to those.
However... (couldn't you just sense that one coming? :p )
Babies typically start smiling within a few weeks after birth, but the first social smile (in which they smile deliberately, and in direct response to some external event, like their mother talking to them) is usually delayed until the end of the third month or so. Which means, I think, we're both right to some extent:
No, humans don't need to be taught how to physically smile, or laugh, and certainly they don't need to be taught how to cry. It does, however, take some time for them to start attaching meaning (good, bad, or something in between) to the expressions and social behaviors exhibited by the people around them. And in order to get to that stage, they do need a certain amount of interaction with other, emotionally expressive human beings first. I don't think it would be entirely accurate to say that babies are born with some kind of intuitive *knowledge* of what a smile, or a frown, or an angry scowl mean, exactly.
In that sense, I believe it would be safe to say that verbal and non-verbal communication are very similar to each other. Not unlike their innate receptiveness to facial expressions, human babies have certain innate linguistic capabilities -- which is to say, up until the age of six or so, they have the capacity to intuitively pick up any language they are regularly exposed to, or even to create their own language (as shown by the history of some Creol languages, among other things). But in order for them to put those innate abilities to good use, exposure to human language before the age of six is absolutely essential. A human being who never came in contact with any human language as a toddler, mostly loses the capacity to use language at all at a later age. See
here for more on this topic.
These children can still learn through imitation, though, so I'd imagine they can indeed learn to smile. They often do loose the ability, however, to bond with another human being in a meaningful and balanced way - which is a disorder often seen in children who were severely neglected during the first months of their life. Ask
Wikipedia .
But I digress. Let's get back to discussing part III of 'Awaken my Heart', now
.
