Question Assumptions
According to the University of Louisville, "An assumption is an unexamined belief: what we think without realizing we think it. Our inferences (also called conclusions) are often based on assumptions that we haven't thought about critically. A critical thinker, however, is attentive to these assumptions because they are sometimes incorrect or misguided. Just because we assume something is true doesn't mean it is. Think carefully about your assumptions when finding and analyzing information but also think carefully about the assumptions of others."
Many of us are no longer in school, so our eyes may have glazed over reading that. But so many of our problems in life and society are based on assumptions. What have you heard?
All men are/do/should do ...
All women are/ do/should do...
All kids are/ do/ should do...
Blacks...
Whites...
Hispanics...
Asians...
The elderly...
The rich... The poor...
Democrats... Republicans....
Etc. The truth is people are individuals, and our assumptions about people, about situations, hell even about ourselves can lead us to engage in prejudice, can create misunderstandings and missed opportunities, can literally limit our world to a very narrow sliver of experience. The process of growing is often the process of challenging what we have assumed to be true and learning what is really true. Join Martin Felton and I as we discuss how we have expanded our horizons using poetry, writing, intuition and other tools from our collective toolboxes that have helped us ADDRESS our ASSUMPTIONS and those of others.
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