Ramblings 1: Comment

Dear Deeply Introspective Anonymous Person,

Thanks for the comment!

When I was writing this I was following a stream of thought and as I started thinking about the many different forms of assumptions I forgot about KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid! To excuse myself a little (which I really shouldn’t do) I will say that this was a stream of thought (Ramblings are generally random topics that I let run wild in my mind as I attempt to record them!), as in it was free flow and I hadn’t really planned to type so much. When I realized what was happening in the end, which was further enforced by your comment, was that I was making WAY too broad strokes on the canvas, though it is kind of nice having them laid out!

The problem now is that I have even more to write about assumptions, really you could probably write a 2000 page essay or something on it! Well if you were REALLY wordy!

Okay, so I love to write and don’t mind having so much more to think about! Shh don’t tell anyone.

I agree with your comment about learning about yourself through experience, but I believe that you have to do both at the same time. That we can’t allow the external environment to control how we perceive ourselves, because even through interactions we develop more assumptions. I should probably go more into this later...

I don’t think I should have added the last part though it can be true. Hmm I am getting a bit lost in what I meant to say!

I will say this, and will later write more about it: (you triggered me into thinking about it, but at the moment I don’t have time (I’m at work, boo!)) I think we need to understand the unconscious assumptions first, the ones that trigger emotion. I believe that many people, myself included, are controlled by emotion. We have to let emotion flow through us, feel it, but not it control our thoughts and behaviors.

Well time to go, sorry if I misinterpreted something… probably come back and add or remove from this later when I read your comment more precisely!

 

Rambling: Assumptions

To assume, one of my favorite professors always said, makes an ass out of you and me.

She taught me, and I ASSUME the rest of the class about assumptions, though of course I shouldn't assume, after all how do I know if the others were paying attention that lecture? Paid it any heed if they did? Maybe they took something out of it completely different than I did?

It's hard not to assume it's built into us, it makes life, makes THINKING easier to do. Think how much time you would have to spend on THINKING if you didn't assume. Didn't stereotype, didn't categorize? We do it not just in thought but also when we process memory, process hearing, process vision. How many times have you read or seen something that turned out to be something completely different when you took a closer look?

Our minds are, not to say lazy, but they prioritize, you assume that the round ball you saw was just that a ball and not let's say a melon, or a rock. The mind categorizes incredibly quickly or most likely if it didn't you'd spend most of your time just listening, watching and feeling.

Which isn't to say that is wrong, I think everyone needs to do that. Everyone needs to stop, and look, examine and understand what it is that they are assuming with every breath, every thought.

This can take a life time.

And no I'm not saying that I am better than the rest, I know for fact that I assume all the time. But every so often I will catch myself and go, "Enh, isn't that funny." And start 'looking' examining what it is that drove me to categorize or assume something about what I have seen/heard/felt/etc.

When I do I find myself delving deep, looking anew at things I've learned or experienced years ago and even just moments before hand. Why did I assume that melon was a ball? Well seems that it was in the middle of a basketball court. (No I have not recently mistaken a melon for a ball, but that is the first example I could think of.)

I find myself often sitting on a bus, train, metro, or walking, just thinking about my thoughts and where they lead and what is it that others think? Do I have any right to think that I can even guess at what others think? To be able to understand the forces, internal and external, that have shaped them.

I find myself more and more often looking more inside myself, and less outward for answers.

How can I understand anything if I do not first understand myself?