...since, according to the “hot hypothesis” of emotional empathy, we automatically empathize with, or resonate to, the emotional expressions of others, we will do so whether or not the people we observe are really feeling what they show on their faces. The "hot hypothesis" therefore seems to imply that we are destined to spend our days resonating madly, nonselectively, immoderately, automatically to whatever facial signals someone else, anyone else, sends us, without our knowing whether those signals are telling us the truth about the latter’s emotional state. If the mirror neuron theory of simulation is true, we can be fooled—we will be fooled—about the emotional states of others all the time. Both of us disgusted in my insula? It might be more accurate to say that I will be disgusted in my insula as long as you display or perform an expression of disgust—regardless of whether you are sincere. But what kind of theory is that?
Ruth Leys, "Both of Us Disgusted in My Insula”: Mirror-Neuron Theory and Emotional Empathy (2014)
