Reading Tells, too much emphasis?

It seems to me that 'tell' related threads attract an enormous amount of interest. However, in practice, I find that trying to read peoples body language and subconcious reactions detrimental to my own game. Recently I have found myself calling raises that I otherwise wouldn't, just because I thought I saw a player do this or that.
What are your thoughts?

Listen, you can be a good poker player without having the faintest idea of how to spot tells or read strength. To do so, you'll probabaly have to realize your limitation and stick to limit, or at least not play high buy-in NL games.

If you find yourself making certain plays because of what your read tells you, and those plays turn out to be wrong, then I advise you to stop putting so much weight in your read. Maybe your instincts will improve, but until they do, base your decisions on the bets that have been made and not on what your gut is telling you.

Like I said, you can beat most games through sound strategy alone and don't need great instincts. If your reads continue to be off-target, don't be afraid to stick to limit games, or even focus on online games.

While there are tells and they can be capitalized on, they aren't like Teddy KGB in Rounders eating the Oreo. When I post or refer to a good "read" on someone, usually it is in reference to information I have gathered over a lot of hands and relates mainly to betting patterns.

A betting pattern or patterns are going to be the most accurate and best ways for you to be able to put your opponent on a hand or asess his/her strength. Don't make decisions based on a nod of their head or blinking slowly, make it on informed observations that you have made. People are creatures of habit and will usually make the same kinds of plays (check, bet, cold call, raise) in certain situations on a consistant basis.

I am a strictly live player, and after a while, you get a feel for people (IMO) and then some of the physical "tells" become something to keep an eye out for. But as a rule my read on an opponent comes from behavioral and betting patterns. Good luck.