my facial muscles reflect what I’m feeling, and your neural machinery takes advantage of that. When you’re trying to understand what I’m feeling, you try on my facial expression. You don’t mean to do it – it happens rapidly and unconsciously – but that automatic mirroring of my expression gives you a rapid estimate of what I’m likely to be feeling. This is a powerful trick for your brain to gain a better understanding of me and make better predictions about what I’ll do. As it turns out, it’s just one trick of many.
