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Psychological Projection Is A Skill
That skill is also known as “imagination” — start using it on purpose
Two Examples of Projection
Say you’re walking in the park and, out on the grass, you witness someone dancing their heart out. Sweat is flying, they have a massive smile. You think: “Boy, they’re having a good time.”
Probably, but how do you know? Maybe they’re faking it, distracting themselves for a minute from some horrible recent catastrophe.
You projected your beliefs onto that person. Dancing and smiling tends to imply happiness, based on your memories. But you can’t feel what they’re actually and currently feeling. They have their own subjective experience.
Another example: you go on walking through the park and the weird person who was dancing storms by you in the opposite direction. They glare at you fiercely, right in the eyes as you pass each other. Now you think: “Oh, they must hate me!”
This is again a projection. You jumped to the conclusion that if someone glares at you, it must be about you. Maybe they would have glared at anyone, because they are projecting everyone is as grumpy as them.
