Chin and Brain

I’ve been a bit busy today marking repeat examinations, so I’ve only got time for a short post. Yesterday, while working on something else, I got to wondering why it is that people often touch or stroke or scratch or hold their chin while thinking deeply? It’s such a common visual trope that the stock image collection on wordpress has dozens of photographs of people doing it. Here’s one: Photo by Hu1ea3i Nguyu1ec5n on Pexels.com And of course, there’s Le Penseur by Auguste Rodin: Photo by Charl Durand on Pexels.com The apparent connection between chin and brain seems to be a cross-cultural phenomenon which is common to all ages and genders. Whatever the reason for it is, it’s presumably related to scratching your head, which is a common idiomatic expression for feeling confused, puzzled, or thinking very hard about a difficult problem. It may also be related to the endearing habit many people (especially children) of poking their tongue out of the corner of their mouth while…