To be able to read another person you observe their body reactions to their environment. Their gestures, face expression and the like tell you what they really feel.

Yeah, right. Isn't it amazing how we are such communicative creatures? Basically we can't stop communicating, even when we stop talking. And yes, people sometimes say one thing with their mouth and another with their body. What amazes me is how we can communicate without even realizing it. For example, two people communicating with their bodies without either of them consciously interpreting the body language. They are basically communicating without knowing it (consciously). And it happens all the time.

I know all this but usually my lack of certainty about what is going on in the other person's mind makes me dismiss it all as empty assumptions. I have a lot to reflect on. Maybe we are all an open book, but some are written in unintelligible language, at least to me. I like that idea as much as I dislike it, but as far as I know this is likely to be the case.

Again, a lot to think about indeed.