How are you feeling today?

"The first theory, known as simulation, suggests that when people try to figure out others' mental reactions to an event, they imagine themselves in the same situation. In other words, "we're trying to achieve a matching of the experience we've had to the experience the other person is having," says Saxe.

The second theory proposes that the human brain uses an abstract model of how minds work, analogous to the model we have of how the physical world works. This model would allow people to understand others' minds without having the same experiences, just as we know that an egg dropped from a 10-story building will crack when it hits the ground, even if we have never tried it."
Thinking of you - MIT News Office