Theory of Mind is an executive function of the brain that is activated the moment we attain the ability to view and understand other people the way we view and understand ourselves: as separate and distinct individuals who feel the same basic feelings, who think the same kinds of thoughts, who have the same essence as we do. Theory of Mind not only obliges us to think of others in the same terms we use to think of ourselves. It encourages us to use ourselves as the primary model for how we conceive of everyone else.
