fMRI is not mind reading. Not even close. Functional fMRI is making repeated observations of a proxy for neural activity (blood flow) until you have enough da

fMRI is not mind reading. Not even close. Functional fMRI is making repeated observations of a proxy for neural activity (blood flow) until you have enough data to potentially localize task-specific actions to some part of the brain. Resting-state fMRI is trying to extrapolate basic, enduring networks in a given individual or group's brain while trying to silence all the noise from breathing, head motion, etc. Did I mention that not all slices in a functional scan are acquired at the same time, so you also have to make interpolations so that the data looks like it's all acquired at once? So no, not mind reading at all. Only in the vaguest sense at best.