This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam in the classic tv series Star Trek.
Mister Spock has a foolproof technique for accurately reading the thoughts and feelings of others.
The Vulcan mind meld.
I am Spock.
You are James Kirk.
Our minds are moving closer, closer, closer, closer.
James Perk.
Closer.
Here on planet Earth, we have no technology that gives us direct access to the minds of others, so we look for psychological clues.
We watch people's facial expressions to see how much they like us.
We read their body language to figure out when they are nervous.
We listen to their intonations to pick up signals about their mood.
How accurate are these clues?
How good are we at detecting what's going on in the minds of others?
In recent years, scientists have spent a lot of time answering these questions.
They've discovered that many of the clues we use to read the minds of others are suspect.
But they have identified one mind reading technique that is surprisingly effective.
The only problem, most of us don't use it.
How to get inside someone else's head.