Why Do We Cry?

Im sorry but animals cry too. When my dog is sad the eyes get wet just like any person. Just because the fur soaks up the tears does not mean dogs or other animals do not cry.

do you cry with your dog josh? maybe only your dog cries because you are his owner...

Well, Rosie Grier told me when I was little that it gets the sad out of you. And, it washes all the mad out of you.
:)

This explanation seems obvious, and nothing new to me. It's just couched in behavioral and sociological terms. I think a fuller explanation of why humans cry would be to include how and why the tearing behavior as a sign became attached to the sociological factors. There could be many other possible ways to signal submission, etc. besides occluding eyesight, for instance. It seems the audible aspect of crying would be sufficient.

Yes, I'm focusing on the explanation for tearing, BTW.

Other mammals produce tears too, but it is impossible to tell if the shed tears are for lubrication or the result of emotions. It seems to me to be highly anthropocentric to say the only a human can shed emotional tears.

But what about people who cry when alone?

Why do we STOP crying?

some other studies snappy fish may be interested in:

http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2006/04/study_using_big.php

and

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WP2-45R896W-1F&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=995070420&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1825b32731d700d64f2b5c47f47b489c

I think all the three theories are right in their way since nobody can tell when people cry.
Some people cry when happy , some when sad.Some people cries when they display emotion for others.Some times tears comes out when some obstacle is in eye.

When a baby cries, any normal person nearby rushes over to help, encourage and comfort. There is an attempt to find the baby's needs, and meet those needs. I really believe that crying is not an evolutionary holdover, it's just an emotional holdover from infancy. When we have unmet needs, or need comforting, sometimes as adults we cry. This triggers those around us, especially those who love us but really anyone in the vicinity, to ask us if we are ok and attempt to comfort us or help us. We do it less and less though as we get older, except in extreme cases, like emergencies or deaths. Maybe it is because we as adults are the comforters now. Maybe it is because sometimes we cry alone, and no one comes to help, and so the behavior extinguishes. I never cry anymore, except when dealing with my parents,or problems i take to my parents. That, for me, is what proves my point. It is a hold over from my infancy, and there is still a vestige of it that my mind directs at my parents, for comfort.