Is it possible to read minds?

It is often said that if there are figures capable of reading minds, they are psychologists. In general, they are attributed a form of unusual power that, according to many, makes them understand hidden human realities. However, as scientists tell us, We all have the wonderful quality of being readers of other people’s emotions and thoughts.

In reality, we cannot “guess” what the person in front of us thinks. Our evolution has not, for the moment, reached that point. However, What we can do is create mental models to effectively intuit feelings, thoughts and behaviors in others.. It is a learning that we start from a very young age.

We call this competence “empathic precision.” and it is the key that makes it easier for us to connect with each other in an enriching and skillful way. In this way, we can safely say that most of us are mind readers, with the exception of those who are on the autism spectrum. We delve a little deeper into this information.

Mirror neurons are the keys that allow us to enter another person’s mind.

Mind reading: what processes facilitate this skill?

We spoke at the beginning of the classic attribution to the figure of the psychologist as a “mind reader.” If in some way, the behavioral sciences professional is skilled in this matter, it is due to a very specific fact. His work is based, in large part, on observation and active listening to people.

This activity allows you to transcend beyond gestures and words to intuit emotions, needs, traumas and thoughts. Psychologists are trained to read aspects related to non-verbal communication, something that, in reality, the vast majority can also do with greater or lesser success.

People give clues to what is in our minds through our gestures, movements, looks, tone of voice… Because mind reading, after all, is not a superpower, it is a skill that comes from empathy and body language.

However, and here comes an interesting fact, No one can become a reader of other people’s emotions and thoughts if they have not delved into their own mind first. Let’s now understand all those processes that make it easier for us to acquire this skill.

Theory of mind: the ability to “think that I think that you think…”

Theory of mind, coined by anthropologist and psychologist Gregory Bateson, defines the ability that people have to understand and reflect on their own mental state and also that of others. A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison also indicates something relevant.

An essential part that favors our well-being is the ability to reason about the thoughts, beliefs and feelings of others and thus be able to predict their responses and actions. An example of this is seeing that our partner comes home stressed and angry, and deducing that they may have had a bad day at work.

On the other hand, something that authors such as Veddum, Pedersen, Landert and Bliksted point out to us is that both people with autism spectrum disorder and patients with schizophrenia show a deficit in the development of theory of mind.

Mirror neurons, our everyday keys to reading the mind

Vittorio Gallese, a neuroscientist at the University of Parma in Italy and one of the original discoverers of mirror neurons, once explained that we are all natural mind readers. All except, according to him, Spock, one of the protagonists of Star Trek. In his case, his difficulty in understanding human behavior lay precisely in the emotional aspect.

The inhabitants of Vulcan had chosen to repress their emotions in order to act more logically. This prevented them from acquiring that faculty that is so exceptional in human beings: empathy. Our empathic abilities, governed by mirror neurons, make it easier for us to enter the minds of others. and connect with your emotional states.

In this way, when we interact with someone, we do more than just look. We connect with that person emotionally and mentally, we put ourselves in his shoes, in the refuge of his mental universe.

Our body, face and tone of voice can provide a lot of information about our states and intentions for those who know how to read it.

Non-verbal language can provide more information than words

To read minds you don’t have to be a jedi. It is not even necessary to concentrate and look exclusively at that face in front of us. We must go further and broaden the focus to focus on the body, the voice, the person’s movements…

David Matsumoto, a professor at San Francisco State University, is one of the leading experts on this topic. in his book Non-verbal communication. Science and Applications, It offers us information on how to delve deeper into non-verbal behaviors to understand people’s thoughts, motivations, personalities and intentions.

As an FBI advisor, he states that Reading the mind of a human being is possible as long as we have adequate knowledge on the subject. In fact, his work is also based on training federal agents and businessmen in the ability to read people to intuit behaviors and reactions.

At this point it is clear that most of us are proficient in this fascinating skill. The most interesting thing, without a doubt, is knowing that we can learn much more, that there are resources and experts who can guide us in this type of interpersonal reading. Because Regardless of how striking it may seem to us, it is still a tool that facilitates and optimizes our relationships.

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