Self-Reflections
It was one of those seemingly mundane moments, but I was thunderstruck when I realized the implications. Tossing on a cardigan, I happened to notice my toddler intently staring at me to figure out how to push a button through a hole in her sweater. Suddenly, I realized how much we learn how to do things and how to behave around others just by watching and copying.
At the time, nearly a decade ago, I had little idea about how extensively my child was mentally rehearsing my actions as she studied me. Since then, science has learned much more. When we see someone engaged in any activity—yawning, dancing, smiling—cells called mirror neurons that are scattered throughout the brain create an instant replay in our heads. Investigators believe that these cells may be the keys to cultural development and may even be responsible for humanity’s collective “great leap forward” 50,000 years ago, as David Dobbs explains in his article, “A Revealing Reflection.” Turn to page 22 to learn more.

Point of View. Each of us has a rich inner mental life, one that seems inaccessible to everyone else. To others, we believe, we represent a kind of human terra incognita. After all, how can anybody really know what is on our mind? As it turns out, however, our feelings and thoughts are only too visible to those who know how to look. You will learn why in our special report, “The Body Speaks.” Tiny “microexpressions” involuntarily fl it across our face, revealing our emotions, as Siri Schubert explains in “A Look Tells All,” starting on page 26. In “Gestures Offer Insight,” beginning on page 20, Ipke Wachsmuth describes how we make hand or other motions to add shades of meaning to words as we converse. And when we fi b, our very physiology can give us away, Thomas Metzinger details in “Exposing Lies”; go to page 32. Getting an outside vantage point also helps us fi nd other things that can seem hidden or unavailable: novel ideas. Basic knowledge of a given fi eld helps, of course, in the quest for a problem’s solution. But simply proceeding step-by-step like a computer will get you only so far. To summon those priceless flashes of insight takes a new point of view.

Human Kind
Last night something happened for the first time in my 17 years of commuting by rail. As the train began rolling north, I concentrated on proofreading pages of the magazine that you now hold in your hands. Slowly, it dawned on me: “I left my purse in my office,” I said to no one in particular. No ticket, no money, no ID—and no one I knew in sight to help me out. The conductor was headed down the aisle, and I wondered if I’d be tossed out at the next stop, leaving me miles from office or home. Then the woman across from me leaned forward. “Can I buy your ticket for you?” she asked. A man sitting two seats over from her added, “Do you need a ride home when we get to the station?”