I've always had this belief

that this overly-perceptive (often paranoid) mindset that I share with a few of my friends is actually some kind of crude form of mind-reading. What if human beings have the ability to read minds, but we're not that developed yet. So this "over-analysis" my friends and I struggle with, is actguallly a crude form of advanced thinking.

Okay. Let me put it more practically.

Here's the situation. I walk into a room and begin talking to 4 friends. All of the sudden, one of those friends disagrees with me in a way that points out a tinge of something negative or irritated. After immediately noticing and dissecting it, I'd conclude that the person is slightly irritated with me because **insert applicable reason** (I'm dominating the conversation and they feel secondary, I interrupted the conversation, I am not including them enough, I said something contraversial etc.). I confront the person and it turns out to be true, but maybe not as prominent as I thought.

I'm starting to wonder if this ability, that most of my friends seem to have, is actually moving toward a human trait that will come later. That we've developed so mentally, that mind-reading is actually a composite of generalized knowledge of the human condition, mixed with cues found in tone and presentation, that can lead to understanding the way MOST people think. That it's not as "supernatural" as everyone thought.

Having said that this is my theory, I don't think me or anyone else I know has it right. Very often, we'll get a perception that something is happening and we're off. We're right that something is going on, but our conclusion might be incorrect (self-focused) or overblown (there is a shred of truth, but it's minor). For some reason, that old game "The Simms" supports this theory for me in that it generalizes certain reactions to socializing. (Too much talking can turn a person off etc.)

I wonder if in 300 years, human beings will be able to accurately read minds with regard to emotion, and that we're seeing the beginning of this now. Certain individuals (who are swirling around me) suffer with an unrefined ability in this, but because we are in the early stages of this understanding, it's unpleasant and self-focused. What if non-verbal cues leading to emotional feeling becomes a basic human function. (And my mind goes wild about how people will present themselves, how there will be more care in interaction etc.) What a creepy thought.

Having said this, I don't think we'll ever be telling fortunes like my picture shows (aside from obvious cases with people under 18 based on life choices they're making and statistics). I just liked that picture.