Full transcript
0:05A scientific experiment . We're going to
0:14put these children to a simple test .
0:23Let's start with Iwan . Iwan .
0:27When he's ready , we show Iwan a piggy
0:33bank . What does he think is inside it ?
0:44Now we take out the money and replace
0:46it with marbles . What does Iwan think
0:50is inside now ? So far so good , but now
0:58comes the tricky part . We ask Iwan to
1:02imagine a friend enters the room who
1:04hasn't seen us swap the money for
1:06marbles . What would that friend think
1:08is in the piggy bank ?
1:13Come on . Iwan doesn't have a theory of
1:19mind yet . He still imagines everyone
1:22knows what he knows . Here comes Lorenzo
1:28, he's also 3 years old . What does he
1:34think is in the piggy bank ? We replace
1:47the money with marbles . According to
1:52Lorenzo , what will someone else say is
1:54in the piggy bank now ? 4 - year-old
2:15Francesca almost gets it right . But her
2:22twin sister , Sisel , is about to show
2:25she can read minds .
2:33But Alana is too confused to answer .
2:41Money . Ah , money .
2:46Older children are sure that even
2:48though they know there are marbles in
2:49the bank , if someone walked into the
2:51room , they would think it contains
2:54money .
3:04When they get it right , they can even
3:06explain why . Some children have a
3:21theory of mind by age 3 , and others
3:23don't have it until age six . There are
3:28many ways to use this new faculty . Some
3:32children will be good at making friends
3:34. Others will use it to motivate others
3:40and become leaders . Between 60 and 90 %
3:44of human communication is non-verbal .
3:48It uses body language , facial
3:50expressions , and tone of voice . Mind
3:54reading allows us to interpret those
3:56signals . Some people have a better
4:00theory of mind than others , although we
4:02all continue to refine this skill
4:04throughout our adult lives . If it
4:07doesn't fully develop , it is due to a
4:09mental condition called autism . Boys
4:16usually understand the minds of others
4:18a little later than girls . Children who
4:21have older siblings do it faster than
4:23those who don't , as they have more
4:25practice . Despite all its positive uses
4:30, when you know how to get into
4:32someone's mind , you can also figure out
4:34how to hurt them . If I hit someone ,
4:48they would feel hurt and sad inside . I
4:56can make someone feel bad by saying
4:59you're a wimp . You play doggy games .
5:02You're you just play with the babies .
5:05You're rubbish . You're pathetic . You're
5:08just the weed . Say they want to be
5:10really pretty . Um and you and you want
5:14to make them feel bad . Mind reading can
5:26pull us apart , but it is also an
5:28essential faculty for getting along
5:31with others . Let's look at the simple
5:35act of buying gifts . Kishori is 6 years
5:38old . She is going with her grandmother
5:40to buy a gift for her friend Nicolas .
5:42How would anyone know who has been
5:44given something they don't like ? Even
5:46an adult can get it wrong . Before
5:55having her new mental faculty , Kishori
5:57would have leaned toward the toys she
5:58likes to play with .
6:07But Kishori is much smarter . The two
6:14girl here have to feed them to rest
6:16them . It's quite complicated to buy a
6:22present for boys . I have lots of good
6:29really would like action man . Would he ?
6:32Yes . Why would he like action man ?
6:35because he likes fighting . We had like
6:45the ones the remote control . Yes .
6:49Control car . Can we chose ? Yes . Why is
6:57that ? Why are you going to chose ?
7:07Kishori knows how to read minds better
7:09than some adults . She is not only able
7:12to guess which toy Nicolas will like ,
7:14but why . She is fully capable of
7:17imagining that he will like playing
7:18with the construction set .
7:40Kishori's journey has ended . She will
7:45use her mind-reading faculty hundreds
7:46of times a day for the rest of her life
7:48without even realizing it . But thanks
7:51to this ability to understand the minds
7:54of others , human society is built . Uh .