How many times have you assumed that you knew somebody and what they were about, only to be completely blindsided when they behave in a way that contradicts everything you thought you knew?

Reading between the lines We often think we have a fair amount of ability in reading people until the moment when we’re proven wrong.

Chances are that you’ve heard the phrase, ‘I read you like a book’ which indicates that somebody has understood another’s thought processes to the point that they’re able to predict what that person might do next. Known as social intelligence, we like to kid ourselves that we are reading people when, in effect, we are mostly just guessing. In fact, for most people, ‘reading people’ is really just thinly disguised empathy where they are projecting their own feelings and thoughts onto the situation and reading it accordingly.