you: You would choose to believe there is something like ESP going on, rather than search for more mundane explanations?
IOW, if they are not communicating in a physical sense then there must be something else going on.
But to answer your question more fully - yes, we relate to other people based upon our own interpretation and confidence in what they reveal to us. Still we do not know of a certainty whether our understanding is true.
When it comes to relying on professional assessments of the character of any person's mind, I would never turn to neurosurgeons or neurologists. For me, "character" is better understood by theologians and philosophers.
As Nicolo Dallaporta said (paraphrased) the crime of modern science is that it has become so massive and thus, so specialized, there are few big thinkers as in the days of Einstein and Heisenberg.
But for me, there is great hope for another reinterpretation coming from the geometric physics corner. Einstein believed it was there but didn't live long enough to formalize the theory that the base wood of matter transmutes to the pure marble of geometry.
OK, my metaphor can be misread. Quantum effects and relativity take place on scales that are completely outside out ordinary experience. You are correct that they are big ideas, but I had in mind the fact that older formulations still work within the observational boundaries of the people who made them.
The switch from geocentricity is really close to my point. Copernicus envisioned circular orbits. His was the first really revolutionary scientific idea. But orbits aren't circular; they are elliptical, and with relativity tossed in, more complex yet.
But if you diagrammed the solar system on a piece of paper, the difference between circular orbits and the true elliptical orbits would mostly fall within the width of your pencil lead. This is what I meant by science progressively adding resolution to a picture.
Einstein's greatest regret, recently communicated to me via extra-dimensional freepmail, is this: "Oy, Patrick, I vish I had liffed long enough to enjoy der blessings of Viagra!"