In 1996, a group of Italian neurologists discovered what they call "mirror neurons"--a neuron which functions to mimic the actions and movements we see in other people. Of course this doesn't mean that we literally always copy each other's movements, but the mirror neurons in our minds are constantly communicating with and simulating the actions of people around us. An individual's mirror neurons are incessantly connecting to and communicating with the mirror neurons of countless different people.
Everyone has had this experience: you sit next to someone who feels nervous, and you can't help but to feel nervous, too. Perhaps they are about to make a speech at a wedding, and as their turn draws closer you feel more and more anxious--just by sitting next to them! This is a good example of mirror neurons at work. You have no reason to feel this way, but it is as if your brain is automatically connecting to their Wifi network, and your mirror neurons automatically pick up on their emotional signals. You can't find the solution to this stress, because it is an imitation and not your own stress. You are just mirroring somebody else's feelings; so until the person sending those signals stops feeling nervous, you will have to feel nervous.
Taking this into consideration, many of our bad habits or symptoms of disorders, which we (unsuccessfully) try to deal with and work on, do not originate in our own minds, but in the connections to people around us through mirror neurons.
This book is written for those of you who think, No one will accept me if I don't change myself. There are so many people who have problems in their relationships with other people--be it students, workers, housewives--who struggle to make something change. This is why we see a great quantity of self-help books on the shelves at the book store. The kinds of people I described flip open these books with piqued interest, read it, and ultimately wonder, "How is it that I keep reading these self-help books and nothing changes?" With an understanding of the brain network system we can solve this riddle.
But if I begin by explaining the brain network system, it would be difficult for most people to approach. I have challenged myself to serve to a wide audience of regular folk, therefore I decided to dive into the theme with explanatory personal experiences rather than specialized scientific terms.
Instead of giving a detailed scientific explanation of the functions of mirror neurons and the brain network system, I will anecdotally describe the kinds of effects other people's images/ opinions of me has had on my life. If I wrote technically it would be something like this: "The negative image of me created in the brain of the other party is reflected by my mirror neurons, thus a negative self-image is established." This style of writing is too vague for most people to fully grasp, so I have taken it upon myself to explain such phenomena primarily with my personal experiences of failure. This way the reader can feel an affinity and say, "Yep! I've been there before!" and illuminate on their own experiences as we tackle the topics in the book.
Everyone has had this experience: you sit next to someone who feels nervous, and you can't help but to feel nervous, too. Perhaps they are about to make a speech at a wedding, and as their turn draws closer you feel more and more anxious--just by sitting next to them! This is a good example of mirror neurons at work. You have no reason to feel this way, but it is as if your brain is automatically connecting to their Wifi network, and your mirror neurons automatically pick up on their emotional signals. You can't find the solution to this stress, because it is an imitation and not your own stress. You are just mirroring somebody else's feelings; so until the person sending those signals stops feeling nervous, you will have to feel nervous.
Taking this into consideration, many of our bad habits or symptoms of disorders, which we (unsuccessfully) try to deal with and work on, do not originate in our own minds, but in the connections to people around us through mirror neurons.
This book is written for those of you who think, No one will accept me if I don't change myself. There are so many people who have problems in their relationships with other people--be it students, workers, housewives--who struggle to make something change. This is why we see a great quantity of self-help books on the shelves at the book store. The kinds of people I described flip open these books with piqued interest, read it, and ultimately wonder, "How is it that I keep reading these self-help books and nothing changes?" With an understanding of the brain network system we can solve this riddle.
But if I begin by explaining the brain network system, it would be difficult for most people to approach. I have challenged myself to serve to a wide audience of regular folk, therefore I decided to dive into the theme with explanatory personal experiences rather than specialized scientific terms.
Instead of giving a detailed scientific explanation of the functions of mirror neurons and the brain network system, I will anecdotally describe the kinds of effects other people's images/ opinions of me has had on my life. If I wrote technically it would be something like this: "The negative image of me created in the brain of the other party is reflected by my mirror neurons, thus a negative self-image is established." This style of writing is too vague for most people to fully grasp, so I have taken it upon myself to explain such phenomena primarily with my personal experiences of failure. This way the reader can feel an affinity and say, "Yep! I've been there before!" and illuminate on their own experiences as we tackle the topics in the book.
