Grounded in behavioral naturalism and informed by my panmodal aphantasia, the study reveals that Theory of Mind operates as an Epistemic Mirror—a self-referential projection mechanism that reflects the observer’s own cognitive logic rather than illuminating the other.

"No equation precedes the pain. The body does not model the wound of the Other; it transduces it. No mental simulation is required when the self is not a mirror, but a conductor." I’ve published a new research paper examining the structural dissociation between empathy, moral valuation, and simulation-based models of social cognition. https://open.substack.com/pub/cristinagherghel/p/empathy-without-mental-imagery-why?r=6bmg7x&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true Open access on Zenodo. #Empathy #Aphantasia #MentalImagery #CognitiveScience #PhilosophyOfMind #Neuroscience