Assume

Stephen King wrote in one of his novels: Assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me". I nod my head furiously in agreement when I read that and it stayed in me until today. Assumptions really cause troubles, almost all the time, and the creator of the word must too, have noticed that. We forgot to bring the textbook to college because we assume that we already have it. We failed to hand in homework in time because we assume that the lecturer will forget about it. Bad things are bound to happen the moment we assume.

Ironically, we love to do just that. Why? Because assumptions make life way easier. Let us imagine Physics questions without assumptions. Projectile motion calculations would be much more complicated. Questions on the orbital motions of planets and satellites would be chaotic. In Economics, assumption plays an even more important role, because the economy is not linear as Physics is. We need to assume the much celebrated ceteris parisbus in order to explain the concepts. The world is too volatile and complex for students, or even experts to scrutinise and study. A random shock (the so-called exogenous factors) could turn the "predicted" trend around.

Assumptions are sometimes fatal, especially in horror movies. The victim would assume the killer/monster/whatever is dead, yet they resurrect most of the times for the final blow (and scare the sh*t out of the audience). Well, those are just in fictional movies. Still, it shows the potential threat assumptions can bring.

Yet, if we never assume, we never learn. Everything would be so complex. Assumptions are a necessity, because assumptions simplifies complex things, and we will learn and develop from there until we get the whole picture. Human learn from the simplest of things, and build on the learnt skills later on. We cannot expect a four-year-old to understand trigonometry when he/she is not even sure how to pronounce the word. He/she would need to have the basics of mathematics before having the ability to at least grasp the concept of it.

We live in a world full of assumptions, and assumptions take part in every aspects of our lives. We assume all the time. We assume when we eat; we assume when we talk; we assume when we argue; we assume when we walk. But whether asuumptions do make an ass out of you and me and the parties involved or not, that will depend on our own wisdom. We must make appropriate, good assumptions to minimise the potential harm. I would now just assume that I would assume carefully when I make my assumptions in the future.