Do Men really know what women think and Vice Versa?

1. 50

   Joseph Muendoposted 10 years ago

   Do Men really know what women think and Vice Versa?
   
   

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2. 62

   Lisa HWposted 10 years ago

   Difficult as it may be for so many people to imagine...    Men and women are individuals.  All women don't think alike, and I haven't yet met the man who thinks exactly the same way as every other man thinks (and/or has ever thought).  Neither have I yet met another woman who thinks "all the same way" that I do.  I've met both women and met who think the same way I do in some ways (and with some people, maybe even a lot of ways); but when all is said and done we're all individuals.
   
   One of the biggest problems I've had throughout my life has been that too many people (both men and women) have it in their head how a woman thinks; and then when I express different thinking from that they're thrown off (and then think that I'm the one being "hard to understand" or "different"!).
   
   So, my answer to this question is, "no".  Nobody knows how anyone else thinks unless the other person says what he thinks and is honest when he (or she) says it.  The best way to know what someone else thinks is to ask them.  If there's something about what they say that someone else doesn't understand, ask them to clarify or explain why they think what they do.
   
   A very unfortunate and widespread problem is that so many people in this world think they know what other people think or "really mean" when they say something.  Not recognizing that we cannot read other people's minds or know what they're thinking amounts to not seeing them as separate individuals with their own minds.  Not seeing and/or respecting other people as individuals with individual thoughts/feelings is described as "emotional abuse" by experts.  (One author who has several YouTube videos on the subject is Patricia Evans.)
   
   I don't mean to be inappropriately "heavy" in answering a simple HP question (that might have been fairly "innocent" and "harmless" in a lot of ways); but this is such a widespread problem (and probably the reason so many relationships of all kinds fail/end), I think it's something people need to start talking more about (and for all I know, the question-asker may have been hoping people would come on here and say the same kind of stuff that I have    ).

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3. 67

   Anjiliposted 10 years ago

   Like all human beings, men and women can only imagine what the other person is thinking about. Human thoughts are a very private issue that only you and your God know about. You only let it out in the open by sharing it through speech or writing. Men or women imagine they know what the other gender has in mind, but often end up guessing. We all know how guesses can be incorrect. This is evidenced by the blunders we make in social relationships with members of the opposite gender.
   I think God was wise in making human thought private. We would all be too predictable if everybody were to know what we are thinking about. It adds to the mystery of the creature called man, the key object of God's love.

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4. 68

   connorjposted 10 years ago

   
   
   I will simply ask you a question. If we did would our world be like it is? Well for that matter, would I still be married?

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5. 81

   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   No, there is no "group" or "gender" think.
   The more people you meet the more you see their "individuality". One person may love being affectionate (hugging, kissing, holding hands...etc) and the next person sees it as being (clingy).
   It's human nature to want to take the quick or lazy approach by simply lumping men in one box and women in another box. "All women blah blah blah and All men blah blah blah. Words like (all, always, and never) rarely apply to anything let alone human beings. You have to get to know them one by one.

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   JThomp42posted 10 years ago

   No. If so the divorce rate in this country wouldn't be over 50%. Someone cannot speak a word, but be saying so much.We need to learn to listen to the one's we love and their feelings instead of always worrying about self. Love takes sacrifice and giving.

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   Justsilvieposted 10 years ago

   No, No, No and this video has the best explanation I have ever seen. Men have a nothing box and women are not allowed inside.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxckAMaTDc

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8. 0

   wilbury4posted 10 years ago

   Between husband and wife, or within a long term relationship there are possibilities. but in general, no.

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9. 69

   khmazzposted 10 years ago

   I do not think that we truly can tell what the other gender is thinking bcause our thought processes are so different.  Something that is so important to me, barely matters to my boyfriend and vice versa.  I think with open communication though we can learn how to better understand where the other is coming from and down the road become better at understanding or knowing what the other is thinking over time.

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10. 88

    savvydatingposted 10 years ago

    The short answer is not really. The simple way to know what the opposite sex is thinking is to ask for clarification whenever we find ourselves confused by his/her responses, statements, and actions. It is also useful to know that scientists have determined that a man's brain has different characteristics than a woman's brain. The exception is in the case of gays and lesbians, whose brains look more like that of the opposite sex. In today's world, it is not cool to say there are differences between men and women, but there are definite and distinct differences nevertheless. And that is not a bad thing - it just is. Thus, the sooner we recognize and accept that, the easier it is to get along.

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    stanwshuraposted 10 years ago

    The gender gap is a farce insomuch as we can breach it quite simply by listening and paying attention.   And no matter what you saw on Oprah or read in Psychology today (not a serious, scholarly publication), we are not foreign creatures within the same species.
    
    No one can read anyone's mind - male or female.  That is a role, function and responsibility fulfilled by COMMUNICATION.

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    1. 88

       savvydatingposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Oprah, indeed. According to Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute Newsletter: “Scientists know that male and female brains are different." The article goes on to explain those distinct differences.

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    Mazzy Boleroposted 10 years ago

    Scientists now say that women have some idea what men are thinking and feeling, but men are not quite as good at guessing what women are thinking.
    
    They scanned the brains of both men and women while they were shown photographs of faces. They were asked to guess what emotion the people in the pictures were feeling - they were given a choice of two each time.  In women, the amygdala, the part of the brain that signifies empathy, lit up regardless of whether the photo was of a male or female, and they guessed mostly correctly.  In men, however, the amygdala only lit up when they looked at photos of other men!  If they looked at female faces, a different part of the brain lit up, more associated with memory than with fellow-feeling. The guys were simply trying to remember when they'd seen a women with that expression and what it had meant at the time. 
    
    As a woman, I find this disconcerting.  Do men think of us as a different species?  I don't know how many men were tested and I hope it isn't true of all men.  For whatever reason, it seems men find it harder to imagine themselves in a woman's place and they try to interpret us from the outside rather than empathizing.  We remain a mystery to them.

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