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Are makings assumptions justified?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by dano218, Sep 16, 2014.

?

Are assumptions are justified?

Poll closed Sep 23, 2014.
  1. Yes

    2 vote(s)
    7.4%
  2. No

    5 vote(s)
    18.5%
  3. It depends

    20 vote(s)
    74.1%
  1. dano218

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    I would since assumptions can be linked to bullying and even suicide assumptions are a bad thing.
     
  2. Yosia

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    I too believe you should never assume things but there are times where i believe it is okar for assumptions to be made.
     
  3. Ryujin

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    I think oftentimes, assumptions are connections your brain just makes. Unless it's related to their behaviour and whether you should associate with them or not, you just have to ignore them
     
  4. BobObob

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    One should try to minimize assumptions, especially when those assumptions may come at the expense of others (as often happens with stereotypes). However, it's impossible to go through life without making any assumptions, and someone who believes he/she doesn't make any assumptions should think harder about his/her beliefs and why s/he believes them.

    I think that people should strive to justify the assumptions they make, and only make assumptions at least somewhat tentatively.
     
  5. Nychthemeron

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    It depends.

    There was someone who once said that the first thing you think is what you are conditioned to think - and the second thing you think is what you truly believe.

    With me, if you bully someone, I'm obviously going to assume you're a shitfaced asshole with no empathy at all - but that may not be true. Some bullies are actually hurting very much instead.

    No, it does not justify their bullying. But it just serves to show how bullies, too, are human, with real feelings.

    I'll stop there before I get off topic.
     
  6. Aussie792

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    We all know too little to get along without assumptions. Just make sure that you're willing to change those assumptions if they're proven wrong. If you aren't a good judge of character and situation, try to keep assumptions about people to a minimum.

    Assumptions are indispensable unless you're willing to do copious research about something, which just isn't possible a lot of the time.
     
  7. Ruthven

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    i mean to me, and i'm just speakin on assumptions in general, what makes sense is basin an assumption on like someone wearin a "i love horses" t-shirt and assuming that well, they must love horses. i think this sorta thing is the only safe and reasonable type of assumption to make.

    and say, assuming someone's sexuality on shit like behaviour/personality/mannerisms/clothes/etc is totally not an okay assumption to make at all, cuz it literally makes no sense and is just beyond stupid cuz that stuff has nuthin to do with sexuality at all.

    so i think it depends on if assumptions are justified. in some cases it's totally fine if they're reasonable and are based on sumthin that makes sense. and that's why stereotypes and thinkin oh fem equals gay is not a case where an assumption is justified, cuz it is not reasonable at all, cuz sexuality is simply attraction to whatever, and is not based on anything else.
     
  8. dano218

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    Thanks for the opinions. My parents think their untrue assumptions about my bf are justified cause they really never got to know him. I thought they did not want him around.
     
  9. Nychthemeron

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    This is one of the situations that I think assumptions are unacceptable, honestly. What's causing them to make those judgments?
     
  10. sam the man

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    I'm with previous posters. There's nothing necessarily wrong with assumptions, if assumptions means reasonable inferences that you make about someone that you'll admit are wrong if they're proven to be wrong (and won't use against that person). When people go too far is when they make judgements, i.e. assume things about someone with no basis and then apply that judgement to their entire value as a person or part of a group and are overly reluctant to revise those opinions. So, yeah. I think there's some differences between making assumptions and judgements.

    Basically I'd say just be wary of assumptions and keep in mind there's a good chance they're wrong and they shouldn't stop you from giving someone a chance. But making assumptions is inevitable nonetheless.
     
  11. Jinkies

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    Unpopular opinion time:

    I say nay on assumptions. I've always been an advocate of seeing that you don't know anything until proven otherwise, and that goes for anything. I'm also not the poster-child for it though, as I still sometimes tense up whenever I see the word "Conservative" bracing myself for attacks I'd already seen before.

    But most of all, they've hurt me. And they've also hurt my friends. I will stay away from assumptions as much as I possibly can.
     
  12. Quem

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    It depends. Sometimes I assume something is going to be fun, then I'll do it. I might regret it, but then I know. If I wouldn't assume anything, I would be very inconclusive.
     
  13. Browncoat

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    I frankly don't care whether they are justified or not. And the manner in which you'd go about claiming their justification is subjective anyhow.


    I definitively discourage them as they relate to human beings.
     
  14. Nychthemeron

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    I don't think it's an unpopular opinion, really. There are tons of quotes about not judging one another, and it's pretty much the mantra of anti-bullying campaigns, at least where I live.

    Obviously you shouldn't judge regardless, but I don't think you should hold it against anyone for judging, either. It's just when they refuse to learn when I get a problem.

    This is why I'm OK with anti-gay people, but not homophobic people. Anti-gay people may be anti-gay because of their religion, and they will probably judge for that - but some of them are very respectful towards gay people, and as long as they aren't trying to shove shit down my throat, I tolerate them and they tolerate me. They're rare, unfortunately. I've only met one.

    Homophobic people, on the other hand, are completely up the wall, and I'll be honest - I judge the hell out of them and I don't really care. Is my judgment justified? Maybe not. But when they go around harassing, assaulting, and murdering people simply for being gay, I don't think I should be all smiley around them.

    EDIT: I also might want to add that some people who can be labeled as homophobic are simply people who don't know better. Some of these people are willing to learn and accept, and that I definitely have no problem with.
     
  15. dano218

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    It is because the first time my parents met my boyfriend we were drunk. They called me, I did not answer and so they came over to my place the summer before I left and I was drunk so they base their assumptions that they first meet him when he was drunk. And also he was 23 years older than me so they made more assumptions about him.
     
  16. Jinkies

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    I just meant "unpopular opinion" because everyone here in this thread had said it's fine to a degree to assume.

    Of course, those that prove themselves individually to be hurtful to others deserve the judgement, hence why I said "Until proven otherwise". That wasn't what I was talking about, nor is it the topic of this thread. What I meant was using the broad brush people paint with, whenever a label comes up. That could be a politician with "(R)" by their name, or someone who identifies as a Christian or Muslim. Or in many cases, someone who identifies as LGBT.
     
  17. Nychthemeron

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    I think I'm misunderstanding something here, sorry. In any case, that whole block of text was a vague example I ran off with - it wasn't really directed towards you specifically; it was more of something I just wanted to throw out there, to spark more discussion.

    But, I'm not sure where the opinions differ when you said 'nay'. I agree with you on not "using the broad brush people paint with", and I think that's pretty much the general opinion here.

    People are just saying it's OK to assume because it's, at least in my opinion, part of human nature - it's just not something you should do.

    If I'm making any sense here.
     
  18. MintberryCrunch

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    Humans naturally assume things, just like humans naturally judge. You can't stop it from happening. We can't help assuming, but we can change our attitudes when our assumptions are proven wrong.
     
  19. dano218

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    I have to say that most of the time somebody assumes something about me or someone I know they are completely wrong in their assumption which makes that word detestable to me.
     
  20. An Gentleman

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    While it's sometimes justified to make an assumption, observing and making inferences is usually a better option. Tl;Dr: Sometimes, but usually not.