Mirror neurons are a type of neuron primarily found in the ventral premotor area and intraparietal area of the primate brain, with possible existence in other areas.  They fire both when a specific action is performed and when a person observes the same action performed by another -- a process called mirroring.  It is unclear whether the link demonstrated between action and perception and production and comprehension (as in a stage show and the audience watching it) is completely true, but some … [Read more...]

According to this theory, "production and comprehension become tightly aligned on many different levels during verbal communication, including the phonetic, phonological, lexical, syntactic and semantic representations." - from "Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communcation" by Greg J. Stephens, Lauren J. Silbert and Uri Hasson, originally published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, August 2010 … [Read more...]

A phrase coined by Nobel laureate and behavioral researcher Daniel Kahneman, in contrast to Remembering Self.  The experiencing self lives in the present and knows the present.  It knows the past, but basically has only the present.  The experiencing self is who the doctor approaches when he asks, "Does it hurt now when I touch you here?" … [Read more...]

A phrase coined by Nobel laureate and behavioral researcher Daniel Kahneman, in contrast to Experiencing Self.  The remembering self is the one that keeps score and maintains the story of our life, and it's the one that the doctor approaches in asking the question, "How have you been feeling lately?"  The remembering self is a storyteller. … [Read more...]

"The ability to enter into other people’s minds and learn what they have to offer.”  From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks). … [Read more...]

A drive and a motivation to find those “moments of transcendence when the skull line disappears and we are lost in a challenge or a task.” From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks). "Limerence is a term coined c. 1977 by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov, a neologism used to describe an involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction for another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings … [Read more...]

the ability to integrate disparate concepts. From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks).  … [Read more...]

"the ability to work within groups." From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks). "a social affinity in which one person stands with another person, closely understanding his or her feelings. Also known as empathic concern, it is the feeling of compassion or concern for another, the wish to see them better off or happier...having a positive regard or a non-fleeting concern for the other person." From Wikipedia.org. … [Read more...]

"street smarts...a sensitivity to the physical environment."  From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks). … [Read more...]

“the ability to have the serenity to read the biases and failures in your own mind.”  “Epistemological modesty.” From the book The Social Animal by David Brooks (quote from TED Talk by Brooks). … [Read more...]