
How mirror neurons affect the experience of fandom - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/59/connections/why-some-sports-fans-have-more-fun
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candiodari
Isn't it possible that mirror neurons are ... nothing special ? In the sense
that they're not different at all from any other neuron, they just happen to
be located in places where they encode very high-level concepts.

For instance, in deep reinforcement learning, you have ... let's say "half-
mirror neurons", in the sense that they fire when the network is trying to
execute an action and when it is placed in that action, then they fire just
the same.

Neurons are unary. They fire when they observe some high-level concept
happening. Doesn't it make sense that once you go high-level enough ... it
doesn't matter anymore whether it's "local" or not.

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amelius
Yes, this made me think of the story about how a biologist would identify the
function of parts in a radio, posted here some time ago, [1].

> A more successful approach will be to remove components one at a time or to
> use a variation of the method, in which a radio is shot at a close range
> with metal particles. In the latter case, radios that malfunction (have a
> “phenotype”) are selected to identify the component whose damage causes the
> phenotype. Although removing some components will have only an attenuating
> effect, a lucky postdoc will accidentally find a wire whose deficiency will
> stop the music completely. The jubilant fellow will name the wire
> Serendipitously Recovered Component (SRC) and then find that SRC is required
> because it is the only link between a long extendable object and the rest of
> the radio. The object will be appropriately named the Most Important
> Component (MIC) of the radio. A series of studies will definitively
> establish that MIC should be made of metal and the longer the object is the
> better, which would provide an evolutionary explanation for the finding that
> the object is extendable.

[1]
[https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20f...](https://bml.bioe.uic.edu/BML/Stuff/Stuff_files/biologist%20fix%20radio.pdf)

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taxicabjesus
... Ingo Swann introduced me to the 'mirror neuron' concept -- at his 2004
talk in Las Vegas iirc -- and suggested that these are part of the biological
explanation for certain phenomenon: (so-called) extra-sensory perception,
telepathy, etc.

from the article:

> The mirror neuron system is a network of neurons that activates both when
> you watch someone do something and when you do it yourself

Ingo also pointed out (iirc) that the effects of mirror neurons are what makes
pornography so compelling for (some) men. Even though pictures are no
substitute for the experience, mirror neurons allow the observer to get more
stimulation than they'd get otherwise.

my earlier comment about Ingo Swann:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12997711](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12997711)

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mmirate
> extra-sensory perception, telepathy, etc.

Eh? Barring brain implants that have yet to be invented, these are in the
realm of fantasy/quackery/pseudoscience.

~~~
bitwize
Yeah, but mirror neurons could be what cause people to _think_ they can read
minds. Imagine watching someone over a period of time, and you subconsciously
pick up on subtle cues and microexpressions that give you a more detailed
picture of that person's mental state than you would otherwise be able to
guess. To someone unfamiliar with the role of mirror neurons -- even to
yourself -- this would be almost indistinguishable from mind reading (or at
least Counselor Troi style "empathy"). It reportedly happens a lot in the scam
psychic trade, wherein a charlatan comes to believe that, like Oda Mae Brown
from _Ghost_ , they've actually developed the powers they have heretofore only
pretended to have. Such charlatans are called "shuteyes" in the business.

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truculation
Are mirror neurons really a thing? Why can't the neurons which govern _my arm_
be used to help predict the actions of other people's arms?

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harshreality
My rough understanding is that's essentially what happens. Mirror neurons
(it's a relatively small area) are not, and could not be, a completely
isolated replication of all the other subsystems in the brain. They just
connect observation or imagination of what someone else might be experiencing
to your own respective motor/cognitive areas. If there were no
filter/activation subsystem for what someone else was experiencing, you'd be
experiencing everyone else's experiences all the time. Or experiencing none of
it.

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pizza
> A Calm Look at the Most Hyped Concept in Neuroscience - Mirror Neurons

[https://www.wired.com/2013/12/a-calm-look-at-the-most-
hyped-...](https://www.wired.com/2013/12/a-calm-look-at-the-most-hyped-
concept-in-neuroscience-mirror-neurons/)

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Toine
Mirror neurons aren’t talked about enough. The repercussions in every field of
human psychology (then economics, religious, etc) are huge. and really
important today. I suspect we will hear about them a lot more in the future.

