If you think about human brain, it is a huge network contains billions of neurons, making connections with each other. Information flows through these trillions of knots called synapse. It controls basic reflections, sensations, drives evolutionarily conserved behaviors that are essential for viability of the organism. It makes sense to extrapolate that the more complex the organisms are, the more complex the neuronal network should be. However, there seems to be a huge jump between human to other primate, and from primates to other mammals. The complex is not simply a matter of numbers of neurons, or knots. Compared to brains of lower organisms like worms or flies, the design of human brain is more like a master piece of abstract art that is not tangible by rationality. It is a mystery to appreciate scientifically.

One of the specific design of human brain (or primates) is that each brain is designed to communicate with other brains (most efficiently with the brains of the same species). It means we are not only able to sense the outside world (by sensations, which by the way, we are not the best one for most parts), we are privileged with the ability to enter the minds of others, by intuition and by speech. (sympathy and language). I am not going to talk about language this time. (Actually, both of the two topics would take tons of words, let alone I am too much a layman to both of the two topics to explain in detail.)

Intuition or sympathy means we are able to understand other people's feelings without experiencing them. With intuition or sympathy, we can understand other people's emotions. In our brain, there are a group of neurons called mirror neurons (or mirror system). They fires (or get activated) at both times when we perform some action and when we see someone perform the same action. It reflects the actions performing by others as that we are doing the same action, hence generates an emotional sympathy.

The mirror system is one of the beautiful models of how our brain works. As most of the known working models of our brain, it sounds simple and shallow, yet think-provoking. Rather than give a clear explanation, it embarrasses us with the fact that we have no idea of how these effortless emotional sympathy works daily.

Sometimes, reading good articles about brain function does not feel like reading a scientific papers. It bridges science and philosophy. In science, I am curious about the mechanism of how a brain works. In philosophy, I am more eager than ever to know the truth of self, the truth of me.

Still in the middle of reading about mirror system. Recommendations are welcome.