“When we see a human body moving, we see movement which is potentially producible by a human body and therefore by our own.” When you watch others move, you don’t just perceive their action. You proprioceive it. You receive it into yourself. This is what empathy does: It creates, in your mind, a felt sense of what you are observing. When you watch an athlete compete, a dancer perform, or a child play, you sense their actions in your own body, even if you aren’t always aware that’s what’s happening. This makes observing movement more than a visual experience; it’s also a visceral experience.
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