Customer Reviews

Mindreading: An Investigation into How We Learn to Love and Lie

5 star:		(1)
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This book addresses some basic elements of mindreading (like ascertaining someone's interest in an object from her/his eye direction) but does not substantively address real-world applications (the way that we observe and interpret subtle gestures and vocal intonation to form an idea of other people's thoughts in daily life). Instead, the book includes extensive descriptions of scientific experiments on animals and humans. The author discusses the development of mindreading capabilities in early childhood but does little to link this information to related findings on brain development. The book's focus on mindreading deficiencies in autistic people often seems insensitive and uncompassionate.

The previous 2 reviews, one explicitly so, could lead one to believe the book is about "mindreading" in the woo-woo, supernatural sense. The book and jacket explicity states it is topically about the "Theory of Mind" and thus the aspect of mindreading here is concerned with the human capacity to intuit each others' inner workings, motivations and actions. The roots of any intuitive abilities we may have are often unknown to us and the book explores their social and genetic sources and it is worth investigating if that is your cup of tea. I've posted this as a corrective to the earlier postings and have zilch to do with the author.

The book is interesting, but the book is not in an organized format. and it haven't mention too much about the most important thing - mindreading.