Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? In this 16 minute presentation at TED Global, Rebecca Saxe shares fascinating lab work that uncovers how the brain thinks about other peoples’ thoughts — and judges their actions.
It’s a truly fascinating insight into a region of the brain identified as the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) “whose job it is to think about other peoples thoughts” with fantastic illustrations of how this develops from childhood.
Her conclusion is that we are wonderfully well equipped to understand what other people are thinking.
Her introduction also includes this fabulous quote by Alan Greenspan:
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant
Towards the end there is a fascinating conversation with the host about the ethical uses of the magnetic instrument Rebecca uses to disrupt the neurological process and cause people to change their moral standpoint – watch her reaction when asked if the Pentagon have been in touch!
Rebecca Saxe: How we read each other’s minds | Video on TED.com
Abstract of research on PNAS website: The neural basis of the interaction between theory of mind and moral judgment
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