I thought this book would give me psychic abilities like those of Shawn Spencer (Psych) or Patrick Jane (The Mentalist), but it didn't. So, if you were concerned that after reading this book I would be able to read your deepest secrets by looking at your face, NO WORRIES, no super-abilities were gained. Only about 30% of the book was about recognizing the universal facial expressions we make when we are feeling different emotions. The rest was about what kinds of events lead to certain emotions, how different emotions are related to each other, and what we can do to become more aware of our own emotions. I learned that anger is usually experienced when you feel that someone has gotten in the way of your objectives. (This is handy to know, because then when you feel angry, you can figure out what your objective is and find a better way to get it, besides attacking someone.) I learned that the facial expressions for sadness and agony most often trigger compassion in others, and that we automatically mirror the facial expressions others make when they are experiencing intense emotions which results in our feeling the emotion ourselves. And I learned that gratitude is a complex emotion that does not have a universal facial expression attached. I think that is because gratitude is a more mature emotion instead of a primal (instinctual) one. Anyway, I ended up enjoying Ekman's discussion about emotional behavior and emotional triggers much more than the descriptions of the minute movements of the facial muscles (which made me yawn and want to skip ahead.) That's just me. If you read this book and you can retain the details he gives, you might acquire some nifty people reading skills to use when you watch interviews with the octo-mom, but I feel like I now understand my own emotions better (which is so much more important than understanding the octo-mom), so it was way worth reading. (If, however, you only have time to read one thing, my blog or this book, pick my blog, of course.)
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