Here's an observation that had not occurred to me.
So not only can we get stuck in our own mind, we situate ourselves in other minds too!?
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I don't see her angle on this as productive in any way,,I see it as constricting..
The fish swimming in unison example, and the humans copying behavior,,being sucked into the behavior of the others around is explained in a more positive way by the russians who studied water,,,water becomes what the water around it expresses,,,so,,at a soccer game,,when the crowd goes crazy,,,everyone is affected by it, and riots ensue,,,,,same with rock concerts,,,,their molecules sync up,it could be in a positive way,,or,,,in a bad way(mob mentality)...With fish,,,it's beautiful,,and if you remember the experiments in the water documentary,,,it was especially significant when they were put in re-structured water, even their breeding and the genetic outpicturing of the young changed to be more beautiful. There are many examples that can be interpeted in a positive way, and can encourage us to seek that "group consciousness" when it is for something positive. These scientists have also talkedabout ways to nurture it,,,chi kung, meditation,etc.,,,and these can also be used to deflect the situations where you want to resist the mass reactions to events. I find that useful!
When she takes the next step and speaks of our lone capability to think about what others are thinking, and be influenced by "crazy beliefs"like,,,"the thought that a boy can fly",,, she became a perfect example for the oppression of human capability,and the stuff we are knee deep in right now. I believe we are capable of tht and much more, but she treats imagination,(the tool we need most to accomplish anything new), as silly. This is left-brained thinking, and since she wallows in psychology, not surprising. So I'm not offended, and I thank her for the example, and reminder that nothing is impossible,,,,,,unless I think like her! Smile!,,,L,,,,T
Or she might be saying if you're not careful you can get stuck living and over-experiencing some ludicrous beliefs with this tendency to fully jump into someone's perceived mind, but, "on the flip side", this uniquely, human ability also prefers us of the benefit that we, can, engage in theater, which you could say is, mindful or imaginary human experience, (imagination) which if not fully considering the trade off or risk factor can be irresistible and fully engaging or addicting.
I think this is precisely the infamous "free will" entangled throughout the human story.
If imagination got you in, it's what will get you out. Your imagination is your best asset as a skilled navigator. Get careless and the karma can seem to be never ending. Throw in a little conscious effort to manipulate imagination and, well, you can see where I'm going. For thousands of years and probably much longer than we think, we've been imagining and disproving these beliefs, these acts, these productions, these magic tricks, these miracles ... it's mind boggling.
And in the end she says monkeys don't get caught up in all this and they stay close and quick to the task so to speak, however, for some reason, even tho it ... (our ability to imagine and act out)
"may leave us in some cases a little dumber than chimpanzees, I gotta say as a human I think it's worth it."
The monkeys seem to be a little more "in the moment" than most of us, so it makes things a little simpler. Now,,,if we can keep the imagination,,,and be in the present,,,,then we got something!