When I enter a classroom, I usually have certain assumptions. What do I expect to happen there (is it a class or a meeting)? What is my role (am I a learner or the instructor)? Where should I sit (assuming I should sit)?
In one of my frequent examples, if I am a learner, I will sit in a chair. I assume that the chair is functional and will support my weight. (Every once in a while, that turns out not to be correct.) However, most of the time that assumption serves me quite well. I don’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out what this object (the chair) is, what its purpose is, and whether it will work for sitting on every time I find myself in that situation.
When I’m the instructor, I go through a similar but different process. I do not generally sit in one of the chairs (unless it’s a small seminar). I may stand in the front, but I may sit on a table at the front of the room. (We don’t normally sit on tables, but it works really well to make me a bit more visible to the whole class.)
What can be disorienting is to put yourself in a situation where your assumptions don’t hold. Let’s say you visit a different country or a cultural celebration that is different from yours. If you are curious and open to learning, it can be an eye-opening experience.
Then there’s the grey zone. You might find yourself in a situation where you assume people have the same norms or opinions or way of doing thing that you do. So you happily plod along where angels fear to tread. Frequently making a grand mess of things.
Knowing our assumptions is really challenging – because we don’t see them. We have developed “schemas” and worldviews that teach us our experience is veridical. It’s like being a fish in water. It’s normal for us and we don’t know any other way. Furthermore, we tend to test them in ways that confirm what we already believe. “Question everything” sounds like a great counter-cultural rallying cry, but I don’t think it is completely possible. We can expose our beliefs and assumptions to some situations that will disconfirm what we believe, but it’s pretty difficult to actually see the outcome without creating some kind of explanation that fits our assumptions.
Should we just settle for our assumptions? I don’t know. Maybe try a counter argument for some of your assumptions once in a while, just for practice.
Photo by via Unsplash
Puzzlepiecescoaching.com/blog
#assumptions #bias #cognition
Puzzle Pieces Coaching 