Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds

www.livescience.com...

Empathy allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science.

Some scientists now believe they may have finally discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers, they say.

The idea has been slow to gain acceptance, but evidence is mounting.

its not reading minds per se...

but its good enough for me

ENJOY!!!

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This is not direct mind reading, it is body language interpretation with a neural response.

Your thread title is misleading.
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Actually I can testify by this I can read my husband's mind I he can read mine most of the time.

I guess when you are with somebody for so long you get to "tune" in.

Originally posted by slank
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This is not direct mind reading, it is body language interpretation with a neural response.

Your thread title is misleading.

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look at my original post...

"its not reading minds per se..."

I've often thought people had this ability, seems sometimes you can feel someone entering a room or 'sensing' someone's feelings especially when it's a strong emotion. Of course it could be subconsious or something slank said: "This is not direct mind reading, it is body language interpretation with a neural response. " Makes sense also

I've always wondered about that idea, when someone walks into a room you can tell even if your back is turned. I think I've realized its just a combination of subconcious senses that add up to something behind you.

But I think the 'Mind Reading' power is just something of instinct. Being able to read someones body language.

WHACK!!!

This is called "learning." Very often you can predict other peoples' actions through such methods as

1. Watching and observing people
2. Noticing common habits/traits in people
3. Spending a lot of time with people
4. Relating your own experience to that of others

The latter is pretty much empathy. Still, if you call this 'mind reading' you pretty much qualify as NOT a scientist in my book.

"reading minds" is anotehr way to say you do know how it was done. There are people who have become experts at reading body language, or facial expresion and can seem to be reading your mind.

Actaully, there is an example of it i have witnessed. that is not based on visual cues. It is often called a "sixth sense", danger sense, or "itchy feeling on the back of your neck".

I actually tested this to an unknowning subject while working in the sporting goods department of a retail store. I picked up a rifle scope, looked thru it at a person walking away from me 200-300 feet away down an asile. After about 10 seconds of me lining the sights on his head (for fun, I just had the scope) he whipped his head around and looked directly at me.

I have experinaced this myself in martial arts training. being able to "Sense" someone nearby that was trying to tag me.

Maybe it is something our caveman ancestors developed to save themselves from preadators. Hardly any of is use it now, except when trying to find someone in a Meet market.

While what the scientists are describing is definitely not reading minds, I do find their hypothesis of autistic individuals not having the neuron activity very interesting. It's easy to see their line of reasoning. Perhaps this will lead to better treatments of autism.

As for mind reading, I feel quantum physics will lead to a better understanding of it, admitting the possibility it exists and can be explained, eventually, scientifically.

I wonder if this is allows for cross-species empathy as well as inter-species empathy. It might (for example) explain why serial killers often start by torturing and killing animals.

On a more positive note, it might also explain why dogs are so "attuned" to humans. Yes, they've been "bred" for this (or the evolution of this trait has been encouraged by preferential treatment being given to the "sympathetic dog"... and this is something we're currently seeing in cats) but does the "sympathy" area include sympathy for other species as a rule?

im glad to see people enjoy this thread...

this is a good conversation...

keep it up