Subconscious imitation is just one of the ways that we socially interact (Image: Jonny Basker/Getty)

YOU know how it works. A student volunteer sits alone in a soundproof booth, watching a computer screen and waiting for moving dots to appear. When they do, he or she has to decide whether there is a walking man hidden somewhere in those dots. If there is, and he is walking left, the volunteer has to press the left button. It’s a tricky task, and most of the time people end up guessing.

In our view, this kind of traditional experiment has a serious …