Mind Reading

Discussion & listening activity

1.Read the text below and discuss the topic with a partner or in small groups. Do you agree? Can you provide a few examples?

Everybody, to a certain extent, has the ability to read others' thoughts and feelings. We read body language and facial expressions, which can reveal someone's basic emotions. That’s the way we are able to handle social situations. We rely on our observations, memories and reasoning to make educated guesses about what another human being has in mind or is going to do.

2.Listening:  “Scientists Say They Can Read Your Mind, And Prove It With Pictures”  

NPR report - Length:  3.48 min

Listen to the radio segment and say whether the statement below are TRUE or FALSE.

a)In the not-too-distant future everybody will be a mind-reader.

b)Some research shows that scientists can control a person’s actions.

c)A professor at UC Berkeley claims that he can see what's on your mind. Although not in a literal sense.

d)In the future scientists will record signals and translate those signals back into a picture of that a person sees.

e)Images from people's brains cannot yet be recorded and played back as a movie.

f)The technology is still primitive.

g)The things someone looks at, the internal dialogue, the feelings... all those things will be accessible in the future.

h)Through telekinesis, some patients can feed themselves.

i)An experiment proved that controlling a person with your mind is possible.

Answers here!