Random note: I'm watching a kind of light-hearted anime, the plot doesn't really matter, but one of the phrases that was used was "kokoro wo yomeru," or "to read minds." I'd literally translate that as "to read the heart," which is interesting. (1/n)

In Japanese metaphysics, the distinction between the heart and the mind is absent: cognition is a kind of affect, and affect is a kind of cognition. In fact, to be appropriately rational means to be appropriately affectively moved by the world. (2/n)

Now, if we take this to be the case "kokoro wo yomeru" implies not simply reading the contents of one's mind, but reading the contents of one's kokoro, their heart/mind, how they affectively engage with the world, which determines how they respond to the world. (3/n)

Now, this is a concept that crops up a lot in different places. As an example, anyone who has seen Rouroni Kenshin has heard something like "sakki wo kanjiteiru," or "to feel (their) killing intent," which is a cousin or parallel concept to the above. (4/n)

Where one's intention to kill, or to do violence, is made manifest through their disposition towards the world as an affective sensibility. On this view, one literally feels the bloodlust, though this is a shit translation of the word, of the attacker as an affect. (5/n)

(note, this is similar to, but not identical with, the hilarious concept of "power level" in DBZ, in case you're wondering.)

Now, this is similar to "seme" or "kissaki-seme" in both iaido and kendo where one exerts "pressure" upon their opponent through extension of the self through the weapon. This "pressure" is a psychological pressure that intends to force an opponent to make a mistake. (6/n)

In english, it is "psyching out" an opponent, but the western concept doesn't capture the nuance. More broadly, in Aikido and other martial arts, this concept is applied to "ending fights before they begin," through exerting "pressure" to dissuade the conflict. (7/n)

In layman's terms, it's to exert big "fuck around and find out energy." But back to the main point: all of these involve the manipulation and cultivation of an affective sensitivity to other persons, other objects in the environment. (8/n)

Under this reading, "yomu," or "to read" is more metaphorical and has the effect of "kuuki wo yomu," or "to read the air," which is to have a sense of the affective organization of a space. Again, affective sensitivity and responsiveness is fundamental to social navigation. (9/n)

Which means that every time some shounen anime character says "I can read your every move," the "reading" here is not visual, but an affective sensibility to what comes next that allows them to predict with accuracy the next attack. (10/n)

Dewey, for what it's worth, calls people with this capacity "especially sensitive," where sensitivity is to the affective organization of spaces and persons, or what he calls the translation of biophysical responses into disclosures of the self. (11/n)

For Dewey, the sensitivity cultivated above in the case of the martial artist and "seme" is the same sensitivity the skilled comedian or the skilled teacher develops in reading their audience, albeit deployed in different contexts and for different ends. (12/n)

And it is present in all individuals who refine a skill to a high degree: situational awareness, in combat parlance, functions in the same way. An ongoing awareness of the affective organization of a situation such that one can respond quickly and appropriately to changes. (13/n)

In animals and humans, Dewey calls this the total engagement in vital activity, and since human vital activity is in nature through culture, human sensitivity is grounded in affective changes in a cultural situation which enable appropriate responses. (14/n)

Anyways, I thought this was a fairly interesting point worth putting out there for y'all to appreciate. (fin)