Expressions speak more than a thousand words. Our expressions give away our real feelings, even when our speech or written text might not do so, because in most of the cases, what we feel is reflected in our expressions. Humans, apart from having developed vocal language, possess a huge variety facial expressions which are able to convey far more than we are able to normally just by speech.
Humans possess a wide range of expressions such as anger, fear, shame, sorrow, and disgust, to name a few. Faces say so much that Google’s Gmail includes more than 20 emoticons (such as for a basic smile) to make up for the personal touches that e-mail lacks. This the very reason why the emoticons are used for communication in instant messaging - to provide the user on the other terminal a glimpse of how you are feeling.
Expressions are reflected when we make faces at people. At least two emotional expressions, those of fear and disgust, first served to moderate sensations coming in from the outside world. Studies show that terrified eyes widen and nostrils flare to monitor the surroundings, and the nose crinkles in disgust to impede nasty odors.
It was a common misconception previously that making faces once protected the beholder like a flexible shield between the atmosphere and sensory receptors within the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Until now, that idea hadn’t been tested and most people believed that expressions have always been just a way to communicate.
Researchers measured the field of vision for study participants who pretended to be freaked out or grossed out. When participants put on a fearful face, their eyes widened and they were able to detect lights flashing above their head. When acting disgusted, they squinted and couldn’t see the flashing lights. The results support the idea that fearful faces observe more of the surrounding atmosphere — by seeing farther and sniffing deeper, on the other hand disgusted faces block the senses from detecting the environment.
Another advantage of expressions is that you may not know a foreign language but you might know what they mean to communicate by their facial expressions. Thus the importance of expressions far surpasses the barriers imposed by regional languages.