<p>When a baby is born they already know how to cry. If you inflict pain, their reaction is to cry. </p>

<p>My question is NOT why do they cry because that is obvious: they are uncomfortable, they are cold, they have been squeezed or as my Mom would say: They are crying because this world is evil and they don't want to be here. </p>

<p>To further remove any confusion: I do not care why they cry. </p>

<p>I had no luck finding anything online except <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-crying-when-hurt-a-learned-human-behavior-or-is-it-an-automatic-response" rel="noreferrer">this</a> Q&amp;A with this answer:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>So your first natural response is to cry, or as you like to think of it, to produce noises from your vocal throat. This is an inbuilt response. As you grow up you notice every time you emit this noise you are given food, attention, and your basic needs are accounted for. This is a learned response.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The interesting bit from the above quote is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>produce noises from your vocal throat. </p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Question</strong></p>

<ol>
<li>Why do humans know crying? </li>
<li>If it is not crying and you call it <em>noises from vocal throat</em> then why do babies produce those noises instead of noises such as laughter noises? Clearly they know that the crying type noise will get us to provide them comfort but the laughing type will not. </li>
</ol>

<p>Perhaps when they are in the womb they can feel when the mother cries, it causes discomfort; so maybe they learn it that way through association. But that begs the question: Why don't they learn laughing in the womb as well? </p>

<p>I will downvote answers that try to state why babies cry since I made it clear that is not my question. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-25T20:46:00.903Z
Isn't crying just a natural instinct for humans? That is, behaviour encoded for by our genes.
Alex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-25T22:57:56.270Z
I'm with Alex, I'd study neurology and not psychology for this one. It's the same as asking how do we know period.
holyeyeolo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T08:29:44.700Z
I'm having difficulty with this question - look at your own words for a moment: first you ask: *Why do humans know crying?* and subsequently you say *I will downvote answers that try to state why babies cry...* Isn't this a bit difficult to reconcile? Given this contradiction, your question feels a bit like a trap, as if we need to be able to read your mind before answering, else we get downvotes on our plates.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T11:46:42.460Z
@aliced I can reword the question but not sure how there is contradiction. Basically what I am asking is why humans already come equipped with crying and produce crying when, for example,  pain is inflicted. I searched all over the internet and people try to give reasons for why babies cry but not why they know it. There is a very important difference between the two. But like I said, if I can reword it so it is easier to understand, suggestions are welcome.
CodingYoshi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T11:52:28.487Z
I see where you are heading. Perhaps it would clarify things when you would carefully consider whether you are asking a *Why* or a *How* question. As of now they are both contained in the question, making it kind of broad. The title question (How) is Neurobiology. The first question in the body is actually the one question you do *not* seem to want to have answered (get rid of it!). The second question in the body is a *why* question, and actually a *why not*. this is an evolutionary perspective and also tends to  generate answers that you apparently are going to downvote.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T11:52:34.987Z
The post is, taken altogether, a bit convoluted.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T15:55:36.047Z
Consider checking out [this](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/10720/7943) answer to a similar question. It makes some vague arguments for an evolutionary advantage to crying, indicating how behavior may have been encoded. Additionally, this would also explain the *why* of the noises: more piercing noises give a higher evolutionary advantage (parents take care of them quicker, etc).
mflo-ByeSE
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T03:06:45.390Z
Why do we know how to breathe? Same idea.
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T12:55:01.610Z
Tears are produced by the same system that maintains some watery nutrition of the eye called the lacrimal system. In addition, there is a neural network responsible for producing excretion in tears from emotional states and this in turn is produced from psychological reasons primary. The question is that as you raise the question does not make much sense to respond in this website stackexchange.com called Cognitive Sciences, you can google much information about this system, from its anatomy to functions etc.
hexadecimal
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-07T00:07:32.613Z
@mrt, yet, that idea is known and is called "genetic memory".
rus9384
<cognitive-psychology><social-psychology>
How do we know how to cry?
CodingYoshi
# How do we know how to cry?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-25)

When a baby is born they already know how to cry. If you inflict pain, their reaction is to cry.

My question is NOT why do they cry because that is obvious: they are uncomfortable, they are cold, they have been squeezed or as my Mom would say: They are crying because this world is evil and they don't want to be here.

To further remove any confusion: I do not care why they cry.

I had no luck finding anything online except [this](https://www.quora.com/Is-crying-when-hurt-a-learned-human-behavior-or-is-it-an-automatic-response) Q&A with this answer:

> So your first natural response is to cry, or as you like to think of it, to produce noises from your vocal throat. This is an inbuilt response. As you grow up you notice every time you emit this noise you are given food, attention, and your basic needs are accounted for. This is a learned response.

The interesting bit from the above quote is:

> produce noises from your vocal throat.

**Question**

1. Why do humans know crying?
2. If it is not crying and you call it *noises from vocal throat* then why do babies produce those noises instead of noises such as laughter noises? Clearly they know that the crying type noise will get us to provide them comfort but the laughing type will not.

Perhaps when they are in the womb they can feel when the mother cries, it causes discomfort; so maybe they learn it that way through association. But that begs the question: Why don't they learn laughing in the womb as well?

I will downvote answers that try to state why babies cry since I made it clear that is not my question.

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, social-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Isn't crying just a natural instinct for humans? That is, behaviour encoded for by our genes.  
> **username_2**: I'm with username_1, I'd study neurology and not psychology for this one. It's the same as asking how do we know period.  
> **username_3**: I'm having difficulty with this question - look at your own words for a moment: first you ask: *Why do humans know crying?* and subsequently you say *I will downvote answers that try to state why babies cry...* Isn't this a bit difficult to reconcile? Given this contradiction, your question feels a bit like a trap, as if we need to be able to read your mind before answering, else we get downvotes on our plates.  
> **username_0**: @aliced I can reword the question but not sure how there is contradiction. Basically what I am asking is why humans already come equipped with crying and produce crying when, for example,  pain is inflicted. I searched all over the internet and people try to give reasons for why babies cry but not why they know it. There is a very important difference between the two. But like I said, if I can reword it so it is easier to understand, suggestions are welcome.  
> **username_3**: I see where you are heading. Perhaps it would clarify things when you would carefully consider whether you are asking a *Why* or a *How* question. As of now they are both contained in the question, making it kind of broad. The title question (How) is Neurobiology. The first question in the body is actually the one question you do *not* seem to want to have answered (get rid of it!). The second question in the body is a *why* question, and actually a *why not*. this is an evolutionary perspective and also tends to  generate answers that you apparently are going to downvote.  
> **username_3**: The post is, taken altogether, a bit convoluted.  
> **username_4**: Consider checking out [this](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/10720/7943) answer to a similar question. It makes some vague arguments for an evolutionary advantage to crying, indicating how behavior may have been encoded. Additionally, this would also explain the *why* of the noises: more piercing noises give a higher evolutionary advantage (parents take care of them quicker, etc).  
> **username_5**: Why do we know how to breathe? Same idea.  
> **username_6**: Tears are produced by the same system that maintains some watery nutrition of the eye called the lacrimal system. In addition, there is a neural network responsible for producing excretion in tears from emotional states and this in turn is produced from psychological reasons primary. The question is that as you raise the question does not make much sense to respond in this website stackexchange.com called Cognitive Sciences, you can google much information about this system, from its anatomy to functions etc.  
> **username_7**: @username_5, yet, that idea is known and is called "genetic memory".  

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## 0 answers

