Evolution of Emotions: Darwin, FACS & RADAR Technique

On the tram, sunlight suddenly catches Serhii in the eyes. He squints, draws his brows together and falls silent for a few seconds. His friend notices his expression and wonders whether she said something inappropriate. “Are you angry?” she asks. Serhii moves into the shade: “No, I just cannot see anything.” The facial movement was real. The conclusion about his feelings needed checking.

We constantly try to understand one another through eyes, voices and posture. This helps us navigate conversations, but sometimes we build an explanation so quickly that we are already responding to our own guess. The history of emotion research is interesting at precisely this point: how do we move from careful observation to explanation without skipping the steps between them?

In 1872, Charles Darwin published The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. He treated facial expressions, movements and bodily changes as phenomena that could be compared and investigated. He wanted to understand how expressive actions originated and why some persisted even when their immediate usefulness was unclear.

Darwin’s book presents three explanatory principles. Serviceable associated habits are actions linked to a particular state that may recur even when they no longer provide their earlier benefit. Antithesis concerns opposing movements accompanying opposing states; Darwin considered, among other examples, differences in a dog’s posture when threatening and approaching in a friendly way. The third principle describes the action of an excited nervous system, partly independent of will and habit.

These ideas belong to the history of science. They should not be presented as three conclusively established laws explaining every human gesture. Comparing animal and human movements also does not justify diagnosing helplessness from a single shrug. Someone may be uncertain, may not know an answer or may simply accompany their speech that way.

Darwin helped frame an important question about the origins of emotional expression. Today, a specific claim about the function of a movement requires its own evidence. Statements such as “lowered brows protect against a blow” or “bared teeth mean readiness to bite” should not turn an ordinary conversation into a reconstruction of an ancient fight.

Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen published the first version of the Facial Action Coding System in 1978. FACS describes visible facial movements in Action Units. It is an observational tool, not a ready-made answer to what someone thinks about you.

For example, AU4 denotes brow lowering, AU9 nose wrinkling and AU15 lip-corner depression. A movement code and an emotion label belong to different levels of description. Research coding requires training and practice; conclusions about a feeling require additional information.

Combinations of numbers in popular articles should therefore not be used as passwords to someone else’s inner world. The same visible action can occur under different circumstances, and people do not always express feelings in ways familiar to an observer. Even after noticing a tense face, context and the opportunity to ask remain important.

On the tram, a brief question was enough. In a difficult conversation, it might sound like this: “I noticed you went quiet. Do you need a pause, or would you like to add something?” This leaves the other person room to describe their experience. They are not obliged to confirm our interpretation of their face.

A clenched jaw, a hot face, trembling or tense shoulders can prompt attention to your state. None of these signs alone identifies an emotion or its cause. Tension may relate to a feeling, physical exertion, an uncomfortable posture or other circumstances. A troubling symptom should not automatically be explained in psychological terms.

If you notice your jaw tightening after a work message, try describing the sequence: what you read, how you understood it, what you felt and what you wanted to do. “I am angry because I think my work was dismissed” is a hypothesis you can explore. It is more informative than “My muscle triggered anger” and leaves more room for choosing a response.

Here, RADAR is the name of a short self-observation sequence you can try with the MriyaRun Emotional Intelligence diary. It is a suggested writing practice, not a clinically validated emergency protocol or a claim about a particular printed page. The English prompts below adapt the article’s Ukrainian mnemonic.

R — recognise. Describe the event, noticeable sensations and an approximate name for the feeling. “I am standing in front of the climbing wall, my legs have tensed and I feel afraid to begin.” You can refine the word later. There is no need to demand immediate precision from yourself.

A — accept that the feeling is present. You might say, “I feel afraid right now.” This is neither a verdict on your character nor proof that you must continue. Acknowledging fear is compatible with checking conditions, declining or asking for help.

D — discover more. What feels frightening: the height, a possible fall or other people watching? What do you know about safety and your physical capacity? At the gym, you can ask the instructor a question, choose a lower section or end the session. In actual danger, protection and help take priority over filling in an entry.

A — activate an available action. Take a comfortable pause, clarify the conditions, step away from a conversation or form a short reply. You do not have to become completely calm first. Choose an action that takes the situation into account without harming you or anyone else.

R — review the result. Return to the entry and note what happened after your chosen step. Fear may remain while the decision becomes clearer. If nothing changed or you felt worse, that is important information too. It may suggest that different support is needed.

One entry can separate observation, explanation and action: “The person turned away,” “I thought they were bored,” “I will ask whether this is a good time to talk.” This practises checking your conclusions. The same applies to the critical voice that quickly turns one awkward moment into a verdict on your whole personality.

The EQ diary offers a way to revisit reactions through practice with fear, anger, sadness and joy. The purpose of observing is to understand particular situations better. A universal timer claiming “an emotion passes in 90 seconds” is unnecessary here: an experience unfolds under many influences, and its duration is not a measure of how hard you are trying.

Further writing about emotions, boundaries and self-reflection is available in the MriyaRun blog. It can offer language for describing experience, while leaving you free to ask questions, remain uncertain and revise your conclusions.