Tie my hands, tie my eyes

Previous studies have demonstrated that motor abilities allow us not only to execute our own actions and to predict their consequences, but also to predict others' actions and their consequences. But just how deeply are motor abilities implicated in action observation? If an observer is prevented from acting while witnessing others' actions, will this impact on their making sense of others' behavior? We recorded proactive eye movements while participants observed an actor grasping objects. The participants' hands were either freely resting on the table or tied behind their back. Proactivity of gaze behavior was dramatically impaired when participants observed others' actions with their hands tied. Since we don't literally perceive actions with our hands, the effect may be explained by the hypothesis that effective observation of action depends not only on motor abilities but on being in a position to exercise them. This suggests, for the first time, that actions are observed best when we are actually in the position to perform them.     

迷途知返

我那中西合璧的三层小楼主体工程刚显出一点眉目,九九重阳节这天,二三十人在脚手架上攀援,他们都十分认真地工作着,可是山涧骤然刮过来一阵强     

Touching my face with my supernumerary hand: a cheeky illusion

A self-touch paradigm elicits a surprising illusion. With the participant's eyes closed, the examiner guides the participant's right index finger to administer strokes and taps to the right side of the participant's face. At the same time, the examiner strokes and taps the corresponding location on the left side of the participant's face. Although the participant administered touch to only the right side of the face, this paradigm elicited the illusion of self-touch to both sides of the face, and the illusion often implicated a third, disconnected or disembodied, hand. We propose an explanation, and draw parallels with the phenomenon of supernumerary phantom limb.     

感悟四季

夏天,是人与自然拥抱交心的季节。夏日白天强烈的阳光,以生动的语言讲述着生命的意义;夜晚星空洒落下的月光,则是一幅充满朦胧诗情的爱意画卷……夏天的雨更是来得干干脆脆,说来就来,当你还来不及惊叹时,就一下子过去了。电闪雷鸣之后,滤去闷热的烦躁,梳理纷乱的思绪,呼吸带有甜味的清新空气……     

Reply to my Critics

In response to critical discussion of my book, A Tear Is an Intellectual Thing: The Meanings of Emotion, I clarify and develop various aspects of my analysis of jealousy in particular and affectivity in general. In relation to jealousy, I explore the nature of pathology, the role of fantasy and of the rival, and the place of examples and of evolutionary theory. In relation to affectivity, I emphasize the difference between distinguishing emotions from other psychological states and distinguishing among, within and between, particular emotions (where affectivity may not be central). In addition, I emphasize the dangers of a version of G.E. Moore's error in demanding a nonreductive analysis of good in parallel demands for a nonreductive analysis of affectivity.     

我爱我的家

家是人们熟悉的一个字眼,熟悉的一个地方。家究竟是什么?不同的人对家的理解也不同,有人说家是人的栖身之所,休养身心的地方,是避风的港湾;有人说家是丈夫的王国,妻子的世界,孩子的乐园;有人说家是……家在人的心里概念是不尽相同的,但相同的是家对每个人都是重要的,因为她是人一生离不开的地方。人可以没有钱、没有权、没有势、没有一切,但不能没有家。家既是重要的,每个人都会爱自己的家,我也一样。