‘Beauty is only skin deep‘ is an English idiom dating back to the 1600s that means beauty is superficial and does not reflect one’s essential character. In other words, what’s on the inside is more important than what’s on the outside. While we all understand this idea, it hasn’t stopped people from paying lots of money to doctors to make themselves more beautiful.
Botox is a chemical that is made from a toxin. That’s right; it’s a poison. Scientists have estimated that one kilogram of the toxin in a crystalline form could kill every human on the planet. In smaller doses, it can make those getting on in years appear younger. When people receive injections of this poison, it stops the nerves in the face from moving, making wrinkles disappear, and the skin look more relaxed and smooth. Not only are many Americans willing to put this poison in their face, they do it regularly. It only lasts about two weeks, and then the wrinkles return, so people need to do it over and over.
Interestingly, Botox has given us a unique window into the mind-body connection, or the mind-face connection. Many people who use Botox temporarily lose the ability to frown. According to research from the University of Wisconsin, this seems to affect their ability to recognize and understand negative things.
Researchers observed test participants reading sad, angry, or happy sentences, before and after using Botox. According to a report by Newsweek, these sentences included “angry (“the pushy telemarketer won’t let you return to your dinner”), sad (“you open your e-mail inbox on your birthday to find no new e-mails”), or happy (“the water park is refreshing on the hot summer day.”)
After Botox, they were slower at reading the angry and sad sentences. These researchers believe that without the ability to physically express negative feelings with their faces, they became slower at processing the same ideas mentally.
This is reminiscent of research in the 1980s that shows that smiling is a two-way street. Not only do feelings of happiness make us smile, smiling makes us happier. They found this out with an intriguing experiment with a pencil. People were asked to hold a pencil in their mouth using either their lips only or using their teeth only. They were then asked to rate how funny a cartoon was. People who were holding the pencil with their teeth found the cartoon funnier. They didn’t realize what was happening, but holding the pencil with their teeth was activating the smile muscles in their faces. Just like with Botox, the expressions on their faces were affecting their perception of the world. Next time you need a happiness boost, forget the Botox, and just try smiling!
References:
https://www.newsweek.com/how-botox-may-really-keep-us-feeling-sad-75263
‘Beauty is only skin deep‘ is an idiom that means beauty is only on the surface. In other words, what’s on the inside is more important than what’s on the outside. We all understand this idea, but it hasn’t stopped people from paying money to doctors to become more beautiful.
Botox is a medicine that is made from a poison. Scientists say that one kilogram of it could kill every human on earth. In much smaller amounts, it can make those getting on in years look younger. When people get Botox, it stops parts of the face from moving. This makes lines disappear, and the skin look more relaxed and smooth. Not only do many people put this poison in their face, they do it regularly. It only lasts about two weeks, and then the lines return, so people need to do it over and over.
Botox has given us a window into the mind-body connection, or the mind-face connection. Many people who use Botox lose the ability to frown for a short time. This changes their ability to understand negative things.
Researchers watched people reading angry, sad, or happy sentences, before and after using Botox. For example:
“[A]ngry (“the pushy [salesman] won’t let you return to your dinner”).”
“[S]ad (“you open your e-mail… on your birthday to find no new e-mails”)…”
After Botox, they were slower at reading the angry and sad sentences. Without the ability to show negative feelings with their faces, they became slower at understanding the same ideas.
This is not surprising. In the 1980s, scientists learned that smiling is a two-way street. Not only do feelings of happiness make us smile, smiling makes us happier. They found this out with a pencil. People were asked to hold a pencil in their mouth using either their lips only or using their teeth only. They were then asked to say how funny a picture was. People who were holding the pencil with their teeth found the picture funnier. They didn’t realize what was happening. Holding the pencil with their teeth was using the smile muscles in their faces. Just like with Botox, the expressions on their faces were changing their feelings. Next time you want to feel happier, just try smiling!
References:
https://www.newsweek.com/how-botox-may-really-keep-us-feeling-sad-75263
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