People don’t behave consistently with the world, your version of it, or what they say about it
People don’t always behave consistently with the world. Why not? Because they don’t see the world perfectly, they see it filtered through their beliefs and the limitations of their perception.
They certainly don’t always behave consistently with your perception of the world. Why not? Because their beliefs and yours differ.
They don’t even behave consistently with what they say their beliefs are. Why not? Because when people communicate, they mix their beliefs with how they want to influence you.
They do, however, always behave consistently with their belief. If you want to know the difference between your beliefs and someone else’s compare your behaviors. I guess you have to take into account your different abilities, but even that gets filtered through beliefs.
If you want to influence someone, it helps to know their beliefs. Influencing someone means changing their motivations, which means changing their emotions, which usually means changing their beliefs.
It helps to know people’s beliefs and asking them doesn’t help, nor does assuming they believe what you do. Their behavior is always consistent with their beliefs, though.
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