When I brushed the drama with my friends that day, the two protagonists in the episode put a long and eager kiss. Friends are very substitution, and I think this film is emotionally rich and touching.
As a single dog, I reflected on life in this century-long kiss, and couldn't help but ask my friend who was moved to tears next to me, "You say, why do people want to kiss?" Isn't it just an exchange of saliva..."
My friend gave me a blank look and thought I had asked a stupid question.
However, unwillingly, after fluttering in the ocean of knowledge, I felt more and more that this question was worth asking.
Why do humans want to kiss each other when they express their love? Where did this desire come from? Is it really a natural and natural existence engraved in our genes?
If you read these questions and you have similar doubts, look at today's article.
01. Kissing is actually a very unique thing
Did you know that humans are the only species in the animal world that express romantic feelings with kisses?
Primatologist Frans de waal points out that the vast majority of animals do not kiss this behavior, and the only two chimpanzees and bonobos who do kissing are only a way for them to express reconciliation after conflict, without a romantic component.
And even in the human world, kissing is not as common as we think.
Anthropologist William Jankowiak and others have found through research that kissing with romantic connotations only occurs in some human cultures. The study sampled a total of 168 cultural regions from eight regions of the world, but only 77 cultures had romantic kissing.
Another interesting finding of the study is that the more complex the culture of a society (referring to the stratification of social classes in this study), the higher the probability of romantic kissing appearing. For example, none of the 10 Central American cultures sampled had romantic kissing. Instead, all 10 sampled Middle Eastern cultures had romantic kissing. In addition, in the Asian, European, and African cultures sampled, the probability of romantic kissing was 73%, 70%, and 13%, respectively.
In this way, kissing is also an act that is influenced by different social cultures.
So, how do we, who use kissing to express our love, make kissing as natural as instinct?
02. Some ancient past about how humans evolved to kiss
In a sense, kissing is an act that assists humans in reproducing.
As one of the thinnest layers of skin, the mutual touch of lips is not only pleasurable, but also helps our ancestors find a more suitable partner. Specifically, when kissing (especially the first kiss with the other person), we can learn about the other person's smell, temperature, and other chemical cues through touch, tongue contact, and smell. For example, use smells to understand the health of the other person's immune system.
But don't get me wrong, what makes kissing less unique is that it's clearly not a necessary means for us to find a partner.
From the perspective of human history about kissing, the emergence of romantic kissing may also have some kind of wonderful accident.
The various meanings of kissing in history cannot be said to be closely related to love, but can only be said to be irrelevant -
For example, kissing used to be an interpretation of social status. In the 5th century BC history, the author Herodotus recorded the way Persians kissed: they kissed people of the same rank, and kissed the cheeks of people of lower status.
Kissing is also a way of greeting. Early Christians often used the "holy kiss" as a greeting.
Kisses have even served to stamp agreements. In ancient Rome, since most people were illiterate, a kiss and an "x" were signed and sealed.
The historically romantic kiss also disappeared from written records for hundreds of years after the fall of ancient Rome, and did not reappear with the rise of court love until the end of the 11th century.
And today, the urge to stay with someone we like and want to kiss him is also a romantic coincidence in the history of human evolution.
(A single dog's curiosity about lemons, but found such a romantic solution, feel more lemon.) So who's going to come along with me to realize this coincidence... ）