Unfortunately, although mirror neurons provide a convenient way of explaining many things, there appear to be many problems with the arguments that suggest they exist. For example, if your brain was programmed to mimic the state of an action, this would be a hindrance if you needed to take a different evasive action. Consider a situation where someone is about to punch you in the face – what you need to do is to duck, not consider what it feels like to hit someone in the face.
If you want to understand more about the case for and against mirror neurons, Gregory Hickok provides an excellent critique of this mythical class of cells in his book ‘The Myth of Mirror Neurons’.
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